Diary for bigkevandnell


about to leave

2006-06-17

hey, it`s almost 11:00 pm and we leave in the morning for the flight to Zambia. The last few days have been pretty hectic but we`re packed and ready to go. Last minute things to grab and stuff into corners of the bag.

You’ll see from the itinerary that we’ll be spending most of our time on this trip in the two largest projects we have, Maplehurst Farm and Samfya, a little town in Zambia. We’ll fill you in about these two places and others we visit as we go. I’m sure you’ll enjoy meeting some of our friends there.

So welcome to the trip, we’re glad you are on the journey with us.

Kevin and Helen


sitting in the heat

2006-06-19

hi there folks, we got to Dubai safely after 17 hours in the air and two stopovers. we arrived at 6:30 am and it was already 31 degress, forecast 41 today!

once you get in the air it`s a bit of a pain to stop part way, but i hope we`ll feel a little less tired because of the travel. we`ll start putting some photo`s on the site once we get to Zambia. we had to buy a new camera on the way, our old digital bought in about 1999 ran out of pixels or something!

we trust you are all well and doing OK? thenks for the messages that have been sent. it`s a real ecouragement.

have a nice day,

Kevin and Helen


dirty or naked

2006-06-22

Hi there team

Thanks fro the notes on the site, great to hear from you all, especially those we haven’t heard from or seen for years. If you want o contact us direct you could do so by e-mail. Anyway, since we last contacted you we’ve had a couple of sleeps in Zambia. Sleeps with only the clothes we stand in. the bags didn’t arrive in Lusaka, still in Johannesburg. We were travelling with 4 other guys, one got his bags on the night, broken into, one got his the next day, broken into and the rest of us are still waiting!!!!!

Here is a tip, if you get the urge to ever fly through Johannesburg, go another way, any way, but not that one. There, that’s my bit for tourism in South Africa, they deserve to loose every rugby test this year, and of course, next year too.

Anyway, we’re sitting here typing this to you in smelly clothes, it beats the alternative!! It’s kind of cool in the mornings but when the sun comes out it’s OK. Hopefully today we’ll hear if our luggage has arrived, the trouble is we’re more than two hours away from Lusaka airport now.

Anyway, that’s enough dribble from us lot,

Kevin and Helen


settling into farm life

2006-06-25

Hi team

hope you`re all doing OK? we`re basking in the sunshine, though it`s a bit cool in the evening and morning.

helen still hasn`t got her bags so we`re going to have to claim insurance unfortunatley; and find some new clothes to wear. we`ve also lost some other stuff ou tof my bag, it`s amazing howyou don`t realize what`s missing.

anyway, apart from that we`re working on the farm, talking and planning the future development and reviewing the last year of operation. the family that manages the farm are doing well, they are so full on it`s scary. fortunately another family is preparing to comes out early next year to lend a hand.

we watched the hilights of the ABs game this morning, bit of a tense one really. nice to see something of NZ and hear the commentary from NZers. we`re surrounded by NZers at the mo. there are 11 of us here at the moment. tonight we`re going to share a bit of the cheese we produce and make sure it`s up to international standards. we make some nice stuff here that goes to the Game Parks and Supermarkets around the place. another week here, working through the details of the farm, identifying weaknesses and sorting through the issues. there are two NZers here putting in the irrigation scheme as well. so they`re hard at it trying to make the best of the current situation here. The accomodation block that will be here for visitors is coming along and nearing compeltion. i`ve added a couple of photos to show you.

anyway friends, must away and have a break from the computer, we`ve almost managed to catch up with the backlog of e-mails. we love hearing from you.

Kevin and Helen


just cruising

2006-06-27

Hi there friends

it`s been great to hear from so many of you, some with messages and many through e-mails. i`ts awesome to hear that so many have been reading the site.

we`re a little stalled at the moment, we`re still at Maplehurst Farm and are sorting through the issues of final purchase and takeover of the property. we had discussions with the guy we bought it from today, trying to sort through the final issues.

We`re also looking at the building and making some final adjustments before it`s too late. Also, Helen still hasn`t got her suitcase so we`re looking at the alternatives, what does she wear, what does she buy, there is still a chance it will come through though it`s getting slimmer by the day.

the power went off today and we saw the new 100 kva generator fire up. also started getting some irrigation sorted so that later this year we can start sowing better pasture.

anyway, this is just a little note to let you know we are really thankful for your interest and encouragement.

we`re making plans over the next couple of days and will probably make a few ammendments to the itinerary. But we`ll let you know when it happens.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen


moving on

2006-07-01

we`re heading North today so there is no guarantee we`ll be able to contactg you or get e-mails. but we still need your prayers. we`rel going to be travelling a fair few kms by road over the next week, we`ve got two short term team coming in and lots` of numbers to crunch in one of the largest projects. so, there will be plenty to do.

we`re keeping well so that`s good.

Helen`s bag hasn`t arrived, i think it`s a gonner so she`s trying to buy repalcement clothes and other things.

blessings and love

Kevin and Helen


hi from Samfya

2006-07-06

hi there dear friends

we`re in Samfya, middle of Africa and we`ve been visiting heaps of orphans today. also seen a new grinding mill we`ve put into a village. it`s so cool to see the changes that are happening in the the families and people we`re helping.

Helen still hasn`t got her bag, she`s scored some new things but we`ll have to make a plan for replacing all the other stuff she had.

so, this is a dodgy line and i have to get off.

Love to you all

Kevin and helen


back at Maplehurst for a few days

2006-07-15

hi friends, we`re back in a place we can communicate again. Well, it`s been an interesting couple of weeks. First we went back to our olds haunt at GLO Zambia, the place we established in the 80s. Great to see the place again and see the ongoing developments.

Then it was out to a village for a day to check out one of the orphan projects, about 40 of them. such beautiful children.

I`ve put a few photos of some of the orphans we are sponsoring on the blog site for you to check out.

Then it was a 3 hour drive to a farm owned by some white African friends. It`s a huge farm with a game ranch as well. They have giraffe, zebras and many other antelope inlcuding Sable, a rare one now.

Then it was off to visit another project, a new one that we`ll start supporting very soon with 202 orpahns, there are so many poor and desperate kids in Zambia, it blows me away every time I visit. it`s just overwhelming. Charles, the guy who is leading this one is an amazing guy, passionate about giving the kids a fair go and a break.

Then it was to samfya, a town on the largest lake in Zambia, along with 100s of orphans. we`re looking after 1,000 of them with Willow Creeek Community church from Chicago. They sent out 2 teams of leaders to check out the partnership and went away with lots of memories. i think they were impressed by the calibre of the people in Samfya who lead this ministry. so we were tour guides for 4 days, in between the two trips we went 4 hours North of Samfya to another orphan care project. it`s increased from 107 to 180 orphans in the last couple of months. one little guy of 9 hasn`t been to school in his life cause he has a spine injury and can`t get the 7 kms to school. so we`re looking at buying him a bike with a carrier and someone will need to cart him to and from school every day - Joseph.

Then it was meetings with Samfya Bible school and a 6 hour drive home. we did about 3,000 kms in the 14 days since leaving and we`re safely home, you never take that for granted here.

Jared and Ruth (son and daughter in law) arrive in 3 days and will spend the next month with us traveling around projects. it will be great to have them with us.

anyway friends, it`s great you`re on the journey with us. thanks for the messages and e-mails. it`s a great encouragement.

Love, Kevin and Helen


resting up and off again

2006-07-19

It’s been great to spend a few days at Maplehurst and catch up on a bit of sleep again. It’s been great to have Jared and Ruth here too, they got into Zambia yesterday and have slotted in really well.

Tomorrow we’re off to Ndola to visit some of the projects and for Jared to visit some of his childhood haunts. Not that little boys have too many haunts! Today we’ve been meeting with all of the staff at Maplehurst. There are almost 30 of them. We explained the reasons Bright Hope exists and the purpose, to help the poor. Not that easy to explain to people who are pretty poor even though they have a job.

So, we’re pretty excited to be here with J & R and to see Zambia through their eyes for a while. When you come here often you tend not to see a lot.

We’ll not have a lot of internet access over the next few days but hope you will continue to pray for us.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen


out and about

2006-07-24

hi there friends

we`re in a cafe in Ndola trying to get info in and out. bit of a mission!

Friday we went to one of the projects in Kalulushi and saw the people that run the parternship. it was good to hear the stories of the kids and how they are doing. they run a program for the kids, 50 iof them, every Saturday. The exchange rate has hit them hard this year and they can only afford to give the kids buns instead of a meal each week. so we`ll see what we can do about that. While i was talking to the leaders others on the team went out and interviewed some of the kids. I"ll let you know some of those stories some time soon. while there we heard of a very rural area with about 40 orphans anad no support. when we come back in October we`ll go check it out.

then yesterday, Sunday we went aan visited another project with 30 orphans. i had to preach twice and Helen and the team had to listen, twice, once in English and then the improved version, in ciBemba. they couldn`t understand either version according to the goss! anyway, we met all the kids and chatted to them. they sang songs for us. it was pretty cool to hear from them.

We then visited a project we have been looking at for a while. one of our Zambian friends is running a street kids ministry. every Sunday afternoon they are given a feed and play games, they hear stories and are taught some basic life skills. They are a desperate bunch of kids. One was arrested last week for killing his uncle, 15 of them were arrested the day before, Saturday, for fighting so weren`t at the program. they have no food in prison so will be pretty hungry by Monday.

it`s great having Jared and Ruth with us, they are loving it. they are really good with the locals too. they`ve done a few interviews of children and will be doing some more too. Brenda savill is travelling with us as well so it`s good for them all and there are plenty of laughs.

today we`ve got to get the wheels on the van aligned, buy some food and cash some money before heading back into the bush for a week.

hope you all have a great week.

Love to you all

Helen and Kevin


GLO Zambia and off again

2006-07-26

GLO Zambia has many memories for us. When we come here we don’t just see the buildings, we remember the people who came to build them, the hassles we had getting the materials to build, the nights outside burning the bricks in a kiln, the truckloads of firewood and sand we had to bring out of the bush.

It’s great to see the students in at the moment learning and growing.

Last night we visited a family that used to work at the Centre. Lemmon, the husband used to work in our house and Grace his wife was the GLO cook for 17 years. It was nice to visit their place and catch up with all the kids.

Doris, the first-born who has been married twice, her last husband died. She has a 13 year old son, Chisenga who is a smart little bloke. She would love to look after orphans and mother them, she never wants to marry again but who knows.

Then Grace, mother of two whose man refuses to marry her and whose family now wants the two children to go and live with them. Beautiful little Chalwe, 6 is being dragged away from mum but the family is going to fight. Doris and grace are opening a roadside stall to try and sell produce, vegetables and fish and other stuff.

Miriam is 25, beautiful, single with nothing to do. She sits around discouraged all day. When she was 6 she had a heart problem and she went to the UK for an operation that saved her life. For what seems to be the question. She has little hope of further education or employment and as for marriage, there are few Christian men who she would be interested in.

Lydia is a little like Miriam, she’s been through school and finished, bright and clever and speaks good English, but there is little hope of education.

And little Sarah, named after out Sara, the youngest. She’s just 17 and was raped just over a year ago. She has a little baby now and the family looks after it so she can go to school. Little Busuma, which means blessing, hardly seems like much of a blessing most of the time.

That’s the children who are home. Raymond is married and lives in Kitwe. He’s about 30, one child but has just lost his job. Maureen is married to a nice guy and lives in Ndola. She’s a nice Christian woman and her husband works full time with Mobile Mission Maintenance. Olly is a hard case, he’s set up a little piece of HOLLYWOOD on the back on the land they own. He cuts hair and sells other stuff to make a living.

And then there’s Dorcas. She lives and studies in Lusaka. We’re helping her to finish her studies. Last year she failed the course cause she wouldn’t sleep with the lecturer because she’s a Christian and he failed her. So now she’s going to have all the costs of another year’s study and one of the other sisters missed out. It’s tough living in a culture where everything is stacked against you.

But you’d never know it from the joy and welcome we experienced last night. They loved seeing Jared after 16 years. Grace, the mother calls me her first born even though she’s only a year older than me! Then Doris slaps me cause she’s really the first born. Then they show us the maize they have grown, about 25, 50 kg bags, more than enough for the year and stacked in mum and dad’s bedroom. They have a problem with rats coming in and before we left we heard a number them running through ceiling on their way to the bedroom. And they fed us, chicken, beef, vegetables and nshima, think maize porridge you eat with you hands. It was neat to feel so welcome, so much at home with people we love and who love us.

We’re just off to the bush, Samfya for a week. It will be net Tuesday or Wednesday before we can do much electronically. We might be able to sneak a little message or two out. So, thanks for the love, the encouragement and e-mails.


all over the place and loving it

2006-08-03

hi there friends

it`s been a while! apologies but we`ve been trying to get on line but it`s been a headache. the last few days since communication have been very different and it kindof sums up life here.

Visiting friends on a huge farm in Mukushi.

Talking about investment in a large Game Farm to generate funds for missions

In Samfya with a team from the the US, acting as tour guides and cooks

Visiting orphans in their homes and interviewing them

Driving on totally dust roads and dual carriage way highways

Eating in the best restaurant in Zambia and the same day eating nshima inone of the poorest villages in Zambia

Driving in a beat up old taxi and flying in an 8 seater plane.

Interviewing the District Commissioner of Samfya District and a solo mum who wants to look after 13 orphans in her church and send them to school.

at the moment Helen is in Kabwe and Kevin is in Ndola. it`s been very hectic and it would be great to have a day or two off. we might get that in a couple of days when we go to Livingstone with Jared and Ruth.

We continue to be amazed by the energy and spiritual maturity of the local people here. they have little apart from a huge faith and a belief that God will help them with their circumstances. so we`re always challenged.

Anyway, we`ll try to get out another message before we go quiet for a while on the next bush leg of the trip.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen


moving on, projects and Eastern Province

2006-08-07

hi there friends

tomorrow morning we head off for another stint in the rural areas. tomorrow we go to Lusaka and do a few things and pick up Jared and Ruth who fly back from Livingstone. we`ve had to make a few changes to the itinerary. we got so tired we deceided to flag the trip to Livingsotne. Jared and Ruth went there by themselves. so we pick them up tomorrow and Wednesday, early in the morning we head off on a 9 hour drive to Chipata. it`s right on the Malawi border. we`ll spend that evening and night in Chipate looking at the little school we support. about 120 kids i think. then the next day we go to a little village called Mchacha. we`ll stay there in tents for two nights and share with our friends Lonard and Rosemary Daka. they are carinf for heaps of kids.

then it`s a couple of hours trip on saturday to the South Luangwa Game Park for two nights in tents in the park. should be a bit of fun doing a couple of Gam Dirves. it`s an awesomw park, one of the best in Africa. then we`re back to Chipata and we say goodbye to Jared and Ruth. they go on to Malawi for a few weeks and we head back to Lusaka to fly out the following Wednesday.

Here is a little story written by one of the people travelling with us. it kind of captures a little of the story of one of the kids we`re sponsoring. i`ve attached a photo too for you to see.

A small group of girls played in the hot sun in front of a church in Chingola, Zambia. They clasped each others hands and danced in circles giggling as they twirled. There was nothing to tell us that she was any different from any of the other girls. She too smiled and laughed, glancing frequently over to check we were still watching her. Abigail was her name and she wore a small blue pinafore cast off over a faded floral skivvy.

After church she ran up to us clinging to me, refusing to let go of my hand even when it became drenched with sweat. “I am nine years old” she whispered shyly as she introduced herself. “I am in grade three.” She was short for her age and her hair was tinged with orange at the tips. Despite these tell tale signs of past struggles with malnutrition there was a smile permanently plastered on her face and boundless energy seeping out of her.

Things are different for Abigail now. She is one of the youngest of her twelve siblings and cousins who all live with her grandparents and is now able to go to school just like the older ones. Even though things are tough for her this little orphan is different from her friends she has hope now.

SO there you go. the last few days have seen us travel a bit on local transport and meeting with the staff at Maplehurst Farm we`re setting up a team here so it requires working through all the issues that occur when you bring strangers together to live and work in a team environment. it`s been really good and positive. It was great to have a couple of nights at a guest house to have a break from people.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen


almost, but not quite

2006-08-08

hi there

just a short note on our way to Chipata. appreciate that people are proaying. today we were almost wiped out by a lunatic driver cominf at us head on. there was nowhere to go cause there were heaps of people walking along the road side. so i just had to carry straight on and at the last minute pull around the last person, barely, (i bet he messed himself) and just miss the lunatic.

we sure don`t take road safelty for granted here. every trip you see accidents, usually trucks tipped over with loads all over the road and cars piled into them.

anyway, we`ve a 9 hour drive tomorrow and we`re concious of your prayers.

Love to everyone

Kevin and Helen


a break in the game park

2006-08-14

hi there friends

the last two days have been great. we`ve been in the South LUangw Game Park resting up a little from the travel and bad beds!! it`s been great to have a couple of days off and relax without thinking about projects and problems. we`ve seem lions and most of the other animals you`d expect to see, except for the leopard. ysterday there were a couple of large cobras outside our house so that was a bit of a drama. last night we saw giraffe drinking, it`s as funny as it appears on TV. there are lots of birds too which makes the game drive fun cause they are always around, even if the "interesting" animals aren`t.

before tis time out we had two days in a village with our friends Lonard and Rosemary Daka. we`ll put some pix on next contact. it was great to participate with the orphans there and hear stories about how they have been helped. also good to see a new project going on in the neighbouring village. they are helping with a community school, community development is a major part of this project. It`s great to see the church caring for people in the community and not being just focussed on their own people. it`s a real sign of maturity.

later today we attack the three hours of terrible roads back to Chipata, calling in to see Lonard and Rosemary. we stay the night in CHipata and then back to Lusaka leaving at 5:00 am.

it has been great to have time with Jared and Ruth. they head off to Malawi for three weeks tomorrow. we`ll realy miss having them around. the only good thing is that we will be in Thailand in a few days with Sara. we are truly spiled to have our kids so far from NZ but still able to see them.

anyway friends, t hanks fos ataying in touch

Kevin and Helen


about to leave Africa

2006-08-16

sitting in Jo`burg airport waiting for the flight to Bangkok.

Helen is still trying to find her bags that went missing 8 weeks ago. so if i arrive in Bangkok or NZ without her she`ll be somewhere in the Jo`burg airport!

Africa has been great again this trip. i cannot believe the calibre of the people we work with and the huge committment they have made to the poor. i come away again with renewed passion to be on their team as they tackle the grassroots issues of the poor and orphans.

thanks for you interest,

really appreciate it. we`ll do another update in a day or two

love to you all

Kevin and Helen


in Bangkok

2006-08-19

well here we ar in Bangkok. pretty hot and noisy place after the slow pace of Africa.

the travel was OK and we got our bags, I`ve never seen helen so happy when her bag turned up!! slept well the first night here and then went to see the HEADSACE team. great to catch up with them, especially Sara, she`s a crazy woman. her nickname here is motehr hen. all the people on teh street already know her by that name. they gilrs in the hostel were pretty amazed that Sara was so much like Helen, the crazy bit, and that her paretns looked so young, that was the father bit i think!!!

anyway, we`ve made change to the Thailand schedule. we`re so tired we`re going to go off to the beach tomorrow for three days. then we visit a couple of projects here in Bangkok. check out the map for the changes.

anyway friends, hope you`re all doing OK?

Kevin and Helen


back to NZ

2006-09-12

we`ve got a bit to report since the last update. sorry about that but it`s been pretty hectic time. since the last blog we had 4 great days in Phuket, at Patong Beach. it was great to be able to just crash and stop for a while. we caught up on a bit of sleep and Helen tried to shop for the things she lost in the bag. but, i hate to tell you that there is nothing in all of Phuket that fits her. they say she`s Extra Large. at last, i have a wife match my size!!!! mind you, i didn`t ask how big i was!!

Then it was back to Bangkok and the HEADSPACE team there. while we were there we visited a couple Bright Hope projects and hung out with the tea, they are a great team and we are so proud of them.

then on the 28th August we hit Mynamar to vist our friends John and Rebecca de Jong. it was great to ecperience their place, to see how they live, to hear their struggles and joys and play with their kids. it was just great to be with them it was awesome to go to church with them and meet their friends at church. even got to hear John preach, twice (by interpretation i mean). the meals at little local restuarants were really nice too thought the local breakfase fare leaves a little to be desired. not something i could eat every day. but it was a lovely two days in a very different country.

then back to the cold. Auckland is cold after the heat of Bangkok. but it was nice to catch up with family and make a few plans for shifting North later in the year. it was also good to sleep a little.

it`s been good too to catch up with friends and family in Levin, great to go to Queen Street Chapel too.

at present Helen is in Levin and I`m in Christchurch catching up with the Bright Hope Team. On Friday I head off to the US for a couple of weeks. i`ve got Bright Hope meeetings in Denver and Chicago and a conference to attend in Toronto with Global Connections in Missions. it will be good to talk about missions and see if there are ways to be more effective.

so we continue to need your prayers. we`ve got our house on the market again and hope to seel it soon.

please keep in touch

Kevin


The USA and Canada, house sold and off to Africa again

2006-10-13

hey friends

Sorry it`s been so quiet from us. Not that we`ve been doing nothing. after 10 days in NZ after the Africa trip Kevin went off to the US and Canada for 17 days to meet donors and try and sort out some stuff. it was pretty good really and we were able to work on raising more funds for the partnerships and projects in Africa and Asia.

while Kevin was away, Helen sold the house!!! yep, it`s gone, sold and we`re on the street. so now we really do live out of our suitcases, even when in NZ.

Tomorrow we`re off to Zambia for 3 weeks. i`ll fill you in over the next few days about that. then we`re off to Kenya and Uganda. more projects to see and people to meet. then it`s to see Jared and Ruth for a few days in London then on to Chicago to visit donors again. we`ll be bag about the 8th December.

so, welcome again to the blog and feel free to pass this on to folks we know that don`t get it.

Lots` of love

Kevin and Helen


at Maplehurst and moving on

2006-10-19

hi there friends,

nice to hear from some of you. i know heaps are reading this so thanks for that too. so here we are, back in Zambia. the big news is that Helen got upgraded to business class on the trip to Sydney, pity it wasn`t the next leg of 14 hours to Jo`burg!! she couldn`t stop talking about it. oh, by the way i got upgraded too!

anyway, we spent a night in Sydney and then the dreaded long leg from Sydney, it`s just so long and tiresome. it`s taken about 4 days to get over jetlag. but we stopped the night in Jo`burg too, went to a B&B rather than a hotel. and then on Tuesday we got Zambia. i had to get a new passport before leaving cause the old one was full. fortunately i did because you can only spend 3 months in Zambia in any 12 month period and i would not have got in on the old passport. anyway, we got in no problem. we met up with two Aussie guys who are traveling with us for the first 9 days.

as we got off the plane it was sprinkling with rain, the first shower of the rainy season. the smell of the rain on the dry ground is amazing. it brings back so many memories for us from our time living in Zambia back in the 80s. we hung around Lusaka that afternoon after picking up the minibus. as we were driving through one really rough road in one of the compounds we dropped into a sewer drain and hit something. The old bus is a little worse for wear and pretty dirty! i think it`s OK and traveled well to Kabwe the next day. but it`s pretty hot here even though the rains are just around the corner and it cools down in the afternoon. on Wednesday we picked up another kiwi girl, Mel, from the airport and then another couple, Nick and Jo and we set off to Kabwe. but not before we stopped for a while to catch up with Brenda Savill, one of our other kiwi mates who lives in Lusaka doing mission work with HIV+ people.

anyway, you`ll hear about David and Justin the 2 Aussie blokes and Mel, Nick and Jo as we travel together from time to time over the mext 6 weeks. you`ll also hear about Jude, she`s up in the bush and we go to be with her tomorrow.

As we were driving out of Lusaka i made my usual prediction that we`ll probably see a wreck or two on the trip, probably a truck. we were only travelling for less than two hours on this trip sure enough, two old burn`t out wrecks and then as we arrived at the farm, withing 100 metres of the front gate, there it was, the proverbial truck tipped over. this time it was an army truck on it`s side and all the luggae spread out across the side of the road. Brad Sutton, the kiwi guy managing the farm was out there trying to help, fortunately no-one was killed and all the injured were discharged the next day. the roads here are really scary. it`s been 6 months since it rained last and there is 6 months of diesel and oil spread on the raod. the rain comes and the oil floats to the surface and the road become a skating rink. every corner is a potential death trap.

it`s been great to be back at Maplehurst Farm. i`ll tell you more about it over the next 3 weeks cause although we go away tomorrow, we`ll be back on the 25th for a couple of weeks. the farm is really developing. today Brad got a pump going for the first time to pump from a large dam we have on the farm and we were able to fire up over 50 sprinkers. it looked pretty spectacular. There has been a lot of fencing done since we were last here, the irrigation has been connected up, we`ve got an new insulated truck for cheese deliveries and we`re about to plant out some pasture for the future. so it`s all go aorund here. the accommodation is behind scedule but one end of it almost ready to go.

Off tomorrow morning to Samfya at 6:00. up at 5 and breakfast and then away for 8-9 hours drive. we`ll be back in touch soon with more reports.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen


oh boy it`s hot

2006-10-29

hi there guys

nice to hear from those of you that have time to leave a message or send an e-mail. bless you.

it`s kind of like everyone has gone bananas, at least the truck drivers in Zambia! every day we see another truck wrecked, last Wednesday we saw 3 of them in a 150 km trip. huge trucks upside down or off the bank and tipped. sure thankful we weren`t passing one when it went. as soon as the rains start the carnage begins.

anyway, enough of that. we`ve had a pretty hectic few days. we surived 3 great days in Samfya catching up with the team there. we have about 1000 orphans in that project and it takes some managing i tell you. there are three full timers and plenty of volunteers in our partner`s team and then we have Jude Goatley and another Zambian guy, Rodney, who are on our team. they are really functioning well at the moment so that`s great. in the next few weeks we will be starting micro enterprise training and loans. we`ll atart with a group of about 15 who will all go out and then start leading their own team of about 10 people.

we had a couple of Ozzie guys taveling with us, Dave and Justin and a kiwi chick, Mel Rich who is working in the UK. we also took a kiwi couple, Nick and Jo Goodwin with us, so it was fun to travel together. it wasn`t so fun when we got there in terms of the accommodation. pretty basic and cramped for 9 of us, but we survived, despite the rodents in the bedroom in the night (fortunately Helen didn`t actually see them!!!) but it`s hot up there beside the lake.

then it was a quick trip to Ndola and Kitwe, we managed to spend a day in one of our smaller projects so the Ozzie guys could see that sort of thing as well.

then it was putting them onto the plane on Wednesday and back to Kabwe and Maplehurst Farm. We`ll be here for a couple of weeks. we`ve been handing over the operation to Bert and Jerry and Hayley from Nelson area who have come to give Brad and Greer a break for 3 months. so we had a few days with Brad and today he headed off to NZ and left us in the lurch. so, today was Sunday, church? not on your life. the irrigation people tuned up to check all the pumps so i was running around after them most of the day. AND, the electrical company decided today was a good day to do maintenance and turned off the power all day. so how do you fix and test electrical pumps and motors with no power. well of course you don`t, you pull them all to bits, then put them together and hope that it`s all in the right place. and then you tell the white guy, who has been there for 1 day and can`t even find any tools, how to put the final touches to it and then test it all once there is 380 volts running through it!!!!!

anyway, i`ll leave it till morning so i get at least one more sleep out of this life!

so friends, i`ll try to upload a couple of photos in the next couple of days, when the power is on

Love

Kevin and Helen


bit of a sting

2006-11-06

you had to see it to believe it. we were fixing this water pump, Bert and me. i was standing in the doorway of the building the power meter was in while Bert pushed the buttons. all of a sudden bert yells out, i thought he must have got a shock, but no, here whas this cloud of bees swarming at me in the doorway. so i shot out the door closely followed by Bert and a swarm of angry little critters. we ran about 200 meters before we finally left the last one behind, only one sting, on Bert`s face!!! would have been good on a video. we had to go back a while later to turn the pump off so i ran in and out as quick as possible but they were after me again. i didn`t have any stings, only a sore head from splapping all the bees out of my hair, the sting might have been better.

the next day one of the workers came with a sorry tale. you know, we deal with 100s of people a week here suffering from th effects of HIV / AIDS. but you never get over the look in the eyes of someone who has received a death sentence. He showed me the form from the clinic, positive. i wondered how i would cope with getting that sort of news? 38 years old, 4 kids..... another statistic, not really, a guy hurting like hell with no understanding of hope. 5,500 every day die of AIDS related illnesses in this part of the world, that`s a lot of misery when it`s all added up. we met a little old lady a couple of weeks ago looking after 12 grandchildren with a drunken daughter to "help." That`s the real story of AIDS/ it`s the little people in the bush who have to deal with the human fallout of ruined lives.

we had a bit of a break last weekend, went to Ndola to a mates party. Andy Patching was 60 years old. i can`t believe it`s so long since we went to Africa and met him there, almost 25 year ago. We had a lot of fun, a whole lamb on a spit, great. then we met some other friends for lunch Sunday before coming back to Kabwe to watch the ALL Blacks. Well that was the plan till we had a pucture and the flippin spare tyre was flat too. so we only got to watch the second half. still, that was great.

well dear friends. this week we`re trying to do some building in the accommodation block on the farm, we`ve got to debrief some friends coming out of one of our partnerships, got to visit a few people and pack up to move on to Kenya and Uganda.

oh yea, by the way, the rains have come to kabwe. it`s 6 months since it rained last and last night it came. immediately it was a little cooler and things go green overnight. the flying ants come out and turn your windscreen into a greasy mess, and the bugs all decide to hatch, it`s amazing and lovely.

Hope you all have a great week

Love

Kevin and Helen


sweating it out

2006-11-14

hi there friends from a pretty interesting suburb of Nairobi. sometimes we wish we staying in teh Sheraton, but it`s all good. sorry for the dealy since the last blog but it`s been full on. we had a good week at Maplehurst farm, not much drama, just getting things sorted at the farm and settling in the new team. they are a great group of people. we had to do a trip to Lusaka to see the accountant and to interview a lady. but it all went well. the team from samfya came in on Wednesday and i spent a couple of days catching up with them before they moved on. Mel and Jude had a couple of days to do their washing before hitting teh road for Kenya. OH yea, we got the swimming pool full and used it a couplr of time, great as the temps were well into the 30s.

then the chaos started, Saturday, a the airport at 10:30 for a 12:45 flight. well, we spent the day sitting in the airport with temperature over 40, dripping with sweat. the plane blew out 3 tyres on landing to pick us up, so they failed to fix them and put us in a nice hotel for the night. at least we got to see the ABs blitz the frogs. then back to the airport at 8:30 and we finally got going at about 1:30. i don`t think i`ve ever been so hot, literally sweat running down my back for the 2nd day in a row. but we got to Nairobi to find our bags were not on the plan ,but they were on the plane following, just another hour. so we spent virtually the whole weekend in Lusaka and Nairobi airports. Also missed having to preach a sermon too, so it`s not all bad.

i`m in an internet cafe in the South B suberb of Nairobi and the keyboard is playing up so i`ll sign off and try to send another update in a day or two. Hewlen and Mel have gone to the Masai market for some shopping and Jude and i are trying to write reports so i had better head off and do some work.

love to you all

Kevin and Helen.


at the source and other places

2006-11-22

Hi there friends from Jinja in Uganda.

Jinja is renowned for being the source of the longest tiver in the world, the Nile. It’s a pretty impresive source; it is larger at the source that the largest river in NZ is at it’s end! It’s purs out of Lake Victoria and ends about 6,000 km away in the Mediterrainean Sea. I’ts been puring with rain here for 24 hours, just pelting down, so it’s pretty hard to see much apart from the rain.

But let me back up a little to the last blog. We were in Nairobi and I was going to tell you about our visit to a couple of slum areas in which we have partners. I’ve copied a part of a report I wrote so you can see what it’s like, this was on Monday the 13th November.

“We spent a day in Mathare and Kariobangi. We arrived at a time of great tension in the valley. A number of houses had been burned in the previous two weeks and about 11 people killed. The Monday we were there was the first day the schools had been open for a week. It was pitiful to walk along the muddy, stinking pathways past burned out hovels. People of all ages were groveling around in the ashes of their homes to try and salvage anything of value.

It doesn’t appear that there is much of value in this place, even in the buildings that have not been burned, but they grovel anyway.

Every time we come here we are reminded of the grinding poverty that exists. We cannot imagine what it must be like to only know this. Even the school is an appalling place, especially in the rains. The mud is everywhere, you cannot escape it.”

So we spent 3 nights in Nairobi visiting our friends there and writing up reports. Then we went to Tala, it’s a little town about and hour from Nairbi. We stayed with Robert and Rose Gitau, they are a neat couple who just love their community. They have all these waifs and strays around they are helping; Refugees from the Congo, HIV + people and their kids, people with menatl illnesses, abandoned orphans….. the list just goes on and on. So they have started a school in area and they have some boarders as well, most of them need some sort of assistance. We spent a couple of nights there talking to the kids and to Robert and Rose. Helen went with Mel to another school and spoke to over 300 girls students and Helen was able to pray with about 20 of them aferwards. It’s such a responsive place and there is such hunger for truth, reality and friendship. The next morning Helen and Mel spent time with the staff and students at the school encouraging them. They also interviewed a bunch of the students and wrote up their stories.

Then it was back to Nairobi for a night and we went to the Java House café for a nice meal. We then spent almost a day catching up on reports while Mel went off to the Nairobi Game Park to see some animals. It’s the rainy season so you don’t get to see too much, but she did get stuck in mud for an hour and it’s not a good idea to get out and push when there are lions around!! We also interviewed a guy who works with Robert and Rose. His name is Muthui and we trained him in Zambia back in the 80s. First time Helen had seen him for 20 years. He is running a micro-loan scheme for people that we helped set up and it’s going really well, helping a lot of people, so it’s great to hear stories of success. That night, Friday we flew to Kampala in Uganda.

Kampala is a strange city compared to the others we have been in. It’s the rainy season so it’s very lush, reminds us of Fiji and the tropics. We had to spend the weekend there without much to do apart from having some time off and catching up on reports. The roads are pretty terrible but the food is cheap. Helen and the girls, Jude and Mel went to a church just down the road from the hotel and loved it. The pastor is a Canadian dude and the music was great. It’s the church that the Watoto children’s choir comes from. Strange, cause they were at our church in NZ a week or so before we came to Africa.

Then it was off to the village of Katosi on the shore of Lake Victoria. Here we are involved in a school of 450+ kids that has a boarding group of about 120 kids. It was great to hear the story and see some of the beautiful children. The conditions are very primitive but improving, so that’s good to see. There is huge potential to develop this partnership. Timothy and Janopher are the key people here and they have given their lives to this village. The road out to the village is very bad and it’s the rainy season so it was an interesting drive and a long day. We got back about 8:00 to Kampala.

Next morning, yesterday we came to Jinja. It’s a nice little town, quaint really but nice. Quite a few tourists come here to raft the rapids on the Nile and see the Source. We had lunch and dinner in little African restaurants, all you can eat for about $NZ2. Then the rain started and it hasn’t stopped. In the afternoon we interviewed two people, three actually. Thomas and Joyce Lubari, a dynamic couple we have been writing to for a year. They are refugees from Sudan who have got involved in church planting in Jinja and now are going back to Sudan on trips to plant churches and train people. It was great to meet them and hear their stories. They really know what it means to be disciples of Jesus. It’s basically cost them everything.

Then it was spending some time with Anna. She’s a great woman we have known for a long time. We heard about their personal struggles and how rich people have tried to take their house from them, bribing the police and the courts and even politicians have become involved, threatening them with death and abduction. Uganda is one of the most corrupt places on earth. Then we hear about the 26 kids we are helping in Lira, a place we wanted to go to but it’s too dangerous at the moment. It was good to hear that the kids are doing OK now they have been rescued from the refugee camp. But it was heart breaking to hear of life in the camp, it’s very dangerous and disturbing what’s happening there. Little children are being raped and contracting HIV and syphillus. Then there is no medical help or drugs. We have established a clinic there to help but it needs serious intervention. The NGOs and aid agencies can do little, they are greasing too many palms to be able to make any real change.

Anyway, that’s enough inflammatory stuff. We’re off to Busia today to spend three nights there in a partnership. We’ve got a lot of people to interview and reports to write, it will be another exciting adventure. Thanks for sharing it with us and following along. It’s great to have you on the team.

Love

Kevin and Helen


on the way home, yay

2006-11-27

Well we thought we had got away with things lightly in Africa! Silly us. Sunday, 26th, travelling from Busia in Uganda to Nairobi in Kenya. What could be so difficult, about 400 km, in Zambia that would take about 4 hours. We booked the tickets, 10 a.m. left the hotel in Uganda at 9:00 and crossed the border, not problems really apart from the rain. Got on the bus, left pretty mush on time for Kisumu. Crossed the Equator at about midday and got into Kisumu about 1:00. No sweat, grabbed some food, the road side chicken is beautiful. Then we changed drivers and everything changed. The guy thought that driving was pointing the bus at a gap in the traffic and shooting into at the fastest possible speed. The road was atrocious and it was pelting down with rain. The guy could count to 5 when it came to gears, it was like, doesn’t matter which one you use so long as it’s the wrong one. I felt like slapping the idiot. Anyway, after an hour on the flat we came to the hills, I knew we were in trouble on the first hill as the revs ground down and he started riding the clutch. Gears, who needs ‘em. So the smell of burning clutch wafted through the bus but subsided as we got to the top and coasted down the other side. I’ve been on th is road before so I knew there were a lot of hills to come, I mean this is the Rift Valley of Kenya. So in due course about 10 minutes later the next lot of hills, higher, longer and……. Well you guessed it, the clutch burned out!! It’s the fault of the bus of course, no-one will take ownership for it. Now I really felt like slapping the bloke, but all the Christian graces I’ve developed over lifetime kicked in and I went for a walk. Well what else can you do. 60 people all standing around like it was a normal experience. Well it was I guess. 2¼ hours later the replacement turns up. At least it wasn’t raining though it tried as hard as possible. Anyway, we pulled into Nairobi at 11:30 pm and got to the hotel at midnight. We were musing on it. We could have flown from Johannesburg to Sydney in that time including airport waiting! But I guess it’s all relevant to the situation. The biggest issue though is the danger of driving on roads like that, in conditions like that. Pouring rain, fog, darkness and some of the most appalling roads I’ve ever travelled on. Next time we’ll fly and save the emotional energy.

Anyway, travel isn’t the issue here for us, it’s just a sideline to the real stuff, people! We really had a great time in Busia with our friends there. It rained a lot so the roads were great! Fun! Bouncing around through the mud. We only had to push once. Mind you, I managed to fall over in the mud as well so it made for a clean up job.

We spend three days visiting people who were benefiting from the micro finance loans. It’s amazing to hear the stories of lives being transformed from poverty. They are pretty innovative, trading in fish, maize, cassava and other grain, setting up little roadside stalls and stocking them up, selling bicycles parts, making and selling bricks, growing maize and rice. The list goes on. With it they have been able to send their kids to school, buy household items and furniture and do things they had never dreamed about. They tell about having dignity, savings for the first time in their lives. We hope to be able to increase the amount going into this program and get it to a stage where it is self generating and multiplying. we’re not sure what that looks like but we’ll find out as we go .

We also interviewed heaps of kids who have been sponsored to go to school. It was great to hear their stories of hope and a chance at life. There are so many beautiful kids here; we hope to be able to add about another 700 kids to program if we can.

The key people are great. I’ve hardly ever seen such hard workers. It’s amazing the energy they put into life and ministry. They leave us for dead really. A number of the leaders are HIV+ so that provides some challenges. When they “come out” with the news they suffer huge stigma and even death threats. Some become so depressed at the news that they want to give up and even want to kill themselves.

Well at least we’re in Nairobi safely and about to get on a plane for the UK. Helen and Mel are out at the elephant orphanage and she can report on that next time. It will be sad to say goodbye to Jude and Mel at the end of our 6 week jaunt together, but it will be great to spend a couple of days with Jared and Ruth. Looking forward to that. We’ll probably send another note from the US. We’ve got a bit of report writing to catch up with in the UK and will visit a couple of people during the day as J & R will be working.

Another few days and it’s back to summer in NZ. The cold of the next few days in London and Chicago will not be appreciated. It’s feeling like we’re on the way home and it’s a nice feeling.

Love to you all and Merry Christmas!!!!

Kevin and Helen


a white christmas

2006-12-05

Hey there friends and merry Christmas, only 20 days to go! We’re finally aware it’s Christmas cause we’re in Chicago and it snowed the day we got here. I mean, IT SNOWED. A foot of it and it’s still all lying around. It’s flippin freezing too, it got up to minus 10 degrees yesterday! So it’s a mad dash from house to vehicle to car to wherever.

We kind of started into the Christmas spirit in London with Jared and Ruth. We had our Christmas presents with them and of course, we walked around Oxford Street, Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus with all the amazing lights, it was a lot of fun. Jared and Ruth were at work during the days so we hit the town! We visited the Natural History Museum to see the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the year exhibition. It was truly amazing. There was an ice rink outside and all the decoration and lights, it started to feel like Christmas. It got dark at 4:30 as well which makes the evenings feel loooong. One night we went the show STOMP, it was our Christmas present from Jared and Ruth along with a meal before. The show was fun. Helen had to buy a warm coat as we knew it was going to be really cold in Chicago. Kevin had an appointment with a guy one morning as well. So it was a lovely time with the kids. We will miss them at Christmastime but we have been spoilt being able to see them now and also to spend a month with them in Africa in the middle of the year.

And then in was on to Chicago and our family and friends at Bright Hope. Then welcome was as warm as the weather was cold. They are a lovely bunch. But it’s been pretty busy since Saturday. We basically worked all day Saturday preparing for presentations. Then Sunday we went to Willow Creek Church and they were doing a presentation about their stuff in Africa and we saw many of our friends in the presentation and a few pictures of ourselves. Then a meeting with the leaders of a team that is coming out to Zambia in May and back to Mike and Kristy’s for lunch. Afternoon and evening was taken up with a meeting with about 50 donors and we got a good response from that. Sunday night we went to sleep at 8:30, but then woke at 4, so the days are pretty long. Yesterday was all day in meetings, first at Bright Hope and then 6 hours at Willow Creek with their big guys, the financial accountability stuff and plans for next year! Last night we were in a hotel, I’m writing this to you from the hotel, it’s 4:30 am and we still can’t sleep.

About mid day we head off to the airport and hit the air on the way home. First to Minneapolis and the Los Angeles. No food on those flights!!!! Then it’s back to Auckland through Fiji. We’ll send a wrap up of this when we get to NZ.

This has been such a neat trip, plenty of adventures and stuff to deal with, but the most amazing people, everywhere we go. We are so blessed to be doing what we are and it’s pretty much because you guys are so much part of our lives. Thanks for journeying with us.

Over and out from a chilly early morning in Chicago. Roll on Christmas at the beach!!

Love

Kevin and Helen


back home and signing out

2006-12-13

hi there friends

we`re back in NZ and recovering from the flights and the trip. thanks for your support while we`ve been on the road this year. we trust you have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

since we left Chicago we had a long flight home and it`s made us pretty tired. it was great to get home in time for Sara`s grad from Pathways College. great to share the evening with her, sh`es such and awesome chick and pssionate about following Jesus. we then went to Levin and talked to ur church about what`s going on and they kind of farewelled us as we`re about to shift permanently to Whangaparaoa. tomorrow we head off to Christchurch for 5 days and Bright Hope meetings, then it`s back to Whangaparaoa for Christmas.

so again, thanks for travelling with us. we`re off again just after Easter so we`ll be back in touch again some time before then.

Lot`s of love

Kevin and Helen


back on line

2007-02-26

Hi there friends

Best regards for 2007. We reckoned it’s time to get in touch again to let you know about the things that are developing for us in 2007. It looks like we have three trips to Africa this year. We’re in the middle of planning it all. I thought we’d just let you know about the first one and as the year goes on you’ll get to hear about the other trips as well.

The brief outline of the three trips look like this:

Trip 1 sees us leaving on the 5th April. We have 4 days in Thailand and 3 days in Myanmar and then it’s off to India. We then have 10 days in India visiting projects in Bangalore, near to Rajahmundry and Delhi. Oh, I forgot to mention that my role with Bright Hope World has changed and now it’s the Field Director which gives us some responsibility in other countries as well. We’ll be travelling with a family of 7 who are checking out some of the partnerships we’re involved in. It will be fun to travel with them. Then we’re off to Zambia for three weeks till the 13th May. Our main purpose there will be to visit Maplehurst Farm and to see how the team there is developing. Then it’s off to Samfya with a team from the USA. After that it’s off to Ethiopia. There we have about 12 people travelling with us to check out a large partnership opportunity. Half the team are from a church in the USA. From there Helen plans at the moment to come back to NZ as quick as possible while Kevin goes on to meetings in Canada and the US arriving back in NZ 2nd June.

Trip 2 sees us off to Africa again on the 22nd June. First we go to Mozambique and South Africa to check out a couple of partnerships. Then it’s to Zambia for 4 weeks and we have 5 short term trips coming through. It’s going to be full on trying to sort out all the logistics. Helen is going to have her skills tested. Then it’s into Kenya and Uganda, leaving there on the 7th August. We have a week holiday in Thailand on the way back to NZ. The purpose of this trip is largely hosting the short term teams. We hope from these groups a number of partnerships will emerge.

The last trip of the year sees us heading back to Africa on 20th September. This time we go through the US and the UK for meetings with partners. Then it’s back to Zambia to visit all the partners spread around the country. We plan to have 4 weeks there and then 3 weeks in North India and Asia on the way back to NZ arriving back bout the 23rd November.

We really love having you with us on the journey. We’ll continue the blog so you can be involved in the trip with us. If you would pray with us and follow it would be great. If you get a couple of minutes leave message, it would be a real encouragement. Add your e-mail address and every time we update the blog you’ll get a note about it. we have strarted a new blog site fro the next trip. go to www.bigkevandnell1-07 and you`ll be able to continue the journey. enter you e-mail address and you`ll get the updates as they come through. if you know others who would be interested then just pass that link on to them?

We’ve been trying to get a new house built but the permit still hasn’t come through. So, hopefully it will start next week, though who knows! It’s just about easier to get things done in Africa than here! It’s been interesting settling into a new community and church in Whangaparaoa. It sure takes time and with us being away a lot it doesn’t help.

I thought I’d highlight a project in each blog so you get an idea of what we’re dealing with. Some of you might like to contribute as well so that will help you get involved. The one I’ll highlight this time is Maplehurst Farm in Zambia. It’s different from the usual partnerships. It’s a dairy farm and cheese factory whose purpose is the generation of funds in Zambia to go into the partnerships. We’re looking for people to help with the development of fences, irrigation and farm equipment. If you’d like a detailed outline of the Farm send us a message. We have two families from NZ running the operation. It employs about 30 people and produces about a ton of cheese a week and milk and yoghurt.

Lot’s of love

Kevin and Helen


couple of changes

2007-03-24

hi there friends,

we`ve made a couple of changes with the blog site. we`ve decided to stay with this one instead of switching to the new one. so, you won`t have to worry about going to the other one, just stick with this and come along with us.

it`s only a few days till we leave again. we`ll have a family travelling with us for the Asia leg of the trip which will be great. we`ll introduce you to them as we travel as well as introduce you to the people we visit.

In Zambia we`ll be at Maplehurst Farm and then a team from Willow Creek Church arrives and we head up to Samfya.

Ethiopia is going to be great. the leaders of a church in the US are coming to meet our friends there with an eye to starting support for this partnership.

it will be great to have Jared with us in Ethiopia. the last 3 days will be a bit of sightseeing.

then it`s through Chicago to catch up with our US office and the team at Willow Creek.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen


Bangkok

2007-04-07

hi there friends

it has been great to hear from some of you on the blog and by email. some of oyu might not know our e-mail addresses so here they are: helenhonore@clear.net.nz and bigkevin@clear.net.nz. we`d love tohear from you either way.

we`re in Bangkok checking out the partners here. it`s great ot meet those who are so hard at work growing God`s kingdom and loving and serving people. check out the couple of pix we`ve put on.

did you know that 60% of the people flying into Bangkok are here fot the sex industry. it`s embarassing to be here as a middle aged male. At rahab ministries are trying to help those who find themselves trapped and they are also trying to stop the trade itself.

today we head off to Myanmar to visit friends there so e-mails will be a bit more scarce.

Love

Kevin and Helen


Kakinada, what a trip

2007-04-16

Where the heck do we start on this one. You’re actually very fortunate to be getting this update, probably only because some of you were praying. Well, it goes like this. We were due to travel from Bangalore to Hyderabad and then we didn’t have enough time between flights and we missed the plane to Rajahmundry. We had got up at 4 that morning to catch the plane. Anyway, we missed the 2nd flight, so what do you do. There were all these people waiting for us with a program planned and we could do a no show. After talking through the options: 1) fly on another airline – no tickets available; 2) flying the next day – very expensive; 3) catching a bus that left at 9 that night and travelled all night – not our cup of tea; 4) the train – even less our cup of tea and 5) hiring a car to Kakinada – OK then, we’ll do it. Not too expensive and about 8-9 hours!

I’ve heard that before and so we head off, 9 of us in an 8 seater with all the luggage on the roof. We hadn’t eaten at 4 that morning so by 1 we were starving and stopped for a curry! It was a hot mother and that didn’t help the heat in the car. Then road was pretty bumpy and the drivers are lunatics, every darned one of the 3 million we passed or that came at us head on!

So we battle on through the high 30 degree heat, we are crossing the Godavari Delta, one of the warmer parts of India at this stage, and it’s summer. At least the air conditioning was on, it didn’t reach the 4 people in the back unfortunately; it was very hot and sticky. We stopped for a drink and piled out onto the side of the road. You might not know but we’re travelling with the Noble family, 3 daughters from 17 – 21 as well as 2 sons. Well, the guys cross the road to get the drinks while the women stand on the side of the road, as you do in an Indian village!! We were gone 3 minutes a 10 seconds and look back to the car, a swarm of about 50 men are giving the women a hard time and more are joining the crowd by the second. So off we race, and keep the men at bay, swords at hand until the women reach the safety of the fortress..... or something like that. It was getting pretty tense there for a minute or two, not sure that the girls still realise the stir they caused.

Not long after this I think Tony, the father, realised the close shave we had just had and started vomiting!!! So a few stops later and a real bad headache and we’re all reaching the end of ourselves. 6 hours, 7 hours and the sun goes down, at least it’s a better road now and we’re probably averaging about 60 km/h not 50km/h like earlier. 575 kms takes a long time to go when you’re averaging that speed and the 8 – 9 hours soon disappear into the past. There’s nowhere to stop for a snack so we plough on into the night. 10 hours and the lightening is flashing and all our bags are on the roof. Oh boy, this is turning into a nightmare.

A phonecall reassures us that we are just 1 ½ hours away but it’s after 9 pm so it’s still a lot of driving. We had been sitting in the back seat all this time so we pile into the back onto hard bench seats for the last 90 minute. It passes quickly with jokes and stories and quizzes and lots of laughs with the younger children. They were great. So, 10:30 comes and we reach our friends, whom we have never met, on the side of the road. They escort us another 10 minutes through the city of Kakinada to their home and a huge welcome; banners, music, flowers thrown all over us, it was lovely, if not a little overwhelming.

Today, the day after, ahs kind of made it all worthwhile really. We’ve visited 4 churches that have sewing classes in them for women. These are just women from the Hindu community, many of them are very poor and they are in the middle of a 9 month sewing course. At the end of it they receive a sewing machine so they can get some economic independence. It was great to hear their stories and the changes that are coming into their lives. Amazing transformations going on.

Then we visited a village for people suffering from leprosy. It’s pretty appalling to see them being treated on the side of the road and then we participated in feeding them all and their families. These are untouchables, but many of them were touched by the team that evening. We were touched as well in our hearts as we saw the joy in their hearts. The local government has allocated them some land, next to the crematorium, on which to live and die. The issue of untouchability is part of the culture, and deeply ingrained. These people are as low as you can go and I ‘m pretty sure they feel that way. Once a week there is a feeding program for them and the rest of the time they get their food by begging. It’s a cruel world and these people know nothing but the butt end of it.

our friens here are amazing, their hopitality huge. we are just blown away by the great people we are in partnership with.

So dear friends. We’re off to Delhi to day and hopefully not a lot more travel on the roads like yesterday. If this hasn’t scared you off travelling with us we love having you along for the ride, though the Nobles probably don’t think so right now! we`ll be back in a day or two to upate the earlier time in Myanmar.

Helen and kevin


catching up

2007-04-17

hey there

here`s another update to get you up to date with what happened in myanmar and up to Kakinada. we hit myanmar in the evening and caught a taxi to our friends place. it was great to see JOhn and Bex de Jong and meet the new baby, Sarah, born since we were here last. we spent 3 days visiting friends and checking out opportunities.

the first guy we visited told us heaps about the work he is involved in. it`s pretty impressive and i can`t write much here, it`s too sensitive to talk about it. but he gave us an interesting persepctive on ministry. "i can afford not to take your money, but i cannot afforfd to have my reputation ruined," he said. these guys are so mature here and most of us in the west need to listen to their persective. he doesn`t want money with strings attached, he wants resources in the context of strong relationhip, with lots of trust and not a lot of paperwork. a man after my own heart!!

then we visited a great Bible school and spent a number of hours discussing the issues related to partnership. late that night we visisted again and continued the discussions.

the next day we did a tour of the capital, Yangon. it is an amazing place, it was even more amazing by the look of it. old buildings with plenty of life. we went down to the docks, visited a huge Buddhist temple, went up oneof the taller buidlings and ate great food. the food here is beautiful, and cheap!! we then visited another bible school and talked about some microenterprise opportunities for people way out in the bush. the last day we kind of laxed out a bit. John and Bex were amazing hosts, we learn so much from them and the people they work with. they are doing well with the language too, especially the kids!!!

then it was out of M and off to Bangalore through Bangkok. we arrived late at night again!!!! seems to be a regular event on this trip, late nights and early mornings.

at Bangalore we stayed at SAIACS, a Bible seminary. the staff are fantastic and really know how to look after you. we spent time tlking to some of the leaders there, discovering if there are opportunities to do some stuff in this part of India.

we visited a school with one of our partners and another project that is getting underway. we then visited a quarry where they mine granite and marble, it`s a most appalling place to visit, like the middle ages. people in rags and bare feet hacking into this huge montain with hammers! he is investigating some help for the children there.

the next day we trveled to Kolar, the site of the richest gold mine in India. well it used to be until the gold ran out. then the British just moved out and now there is little work for most people. we assist a school there with a small dairy farm, we checked out the 8 cows and two calves and planned for growth. the kids are all out of school at the moment as it`s summer holidays.

it was a real experience for htose who haven`t experienced Indian driving, it`s like dodgems at 80 km/h. Ok if you can`t see the front. horns are blaring the whole time and vehicles swerve haphazard all over the road. cows, motor bikes, people and auto rickshaws just seems to weave there way in a random fashion along the tar seal ribbon.

well, we survived it all for that day and got back safely to Bangalore. it`s nice being here at the moment with the Black Caps doing well. they are on TV every game and we even saw parts of a couple of Super 14 games on the weekend. these people are totally mad about cricket, mad about their team too.

then the fianle in Bangalore, the Home of Hope. desperate people rescued fromthe street to live out their days in a place of safety. it is truly an oasis in the midst of chaos. while we were there for about 2 1/2 hours a man was brought in but was dead on arrival. we met people who volnteer to serve and who get paid a pittance to serve the poor in ways that would make Mother Teresa proud. truly amazing people, even more amazing, their god.

we then went out to a slum area amongst very poor workers wholive in tents. we arrived and sat on the ground for church, saturday afternoon. we sang, they sang, and with about 30 seconds warning i was preaching. then we prayed for people, desperate people, so humbling. they took up an offering and gave it to us, how do you take it, how do you refuse?

a late night that night as we went off to sleep with plenty to think about.

an ealry morning, 4 am to catch the plane to Hyderabad. now you need to connect with the previous blog.

we are doing well, the people are amazing and we`re seeing so much to shape our thinking. we really love having yo on the trip. put on your seatbelts, we`re off to Delhi in a couple of hours. the plane is already 2 hours late so have a drink before you put in on.

catch you later dear firends

helen and kevin


Delhi and the Taj

2007-04-21

hi there friends

it`s 8:45 in the evening and it`s 40 degrees C. fortunately the a/c is working and it`s not too bad. this evening we went for a ride in an autorickshaw to meet some friends for dinner in the middle of Delhi. it was nice, we have such nice friends here.

since we last talked we`ve travelled by plane from rajahmundry to Hyderabad and then on to Delhi via Bhopal. our plane from H to D was delayed for two hours so we had plenty of time to cool our heels in Hyderabad airport, a lovely place!!!! that`s where we sent the last update from. the plane from H to D was bult for children and midgets so I had to have two seats, luckily the plane wasn`t full, though it was almost. i was sitting across two seats so noone tried to sit on my knee.

anyway, we got to Delhi about midnight and friends were there to meet us. we`re staying Delhi Bible Institute, those who met Isaac Shaw will know of the place. the staff here told us many stories of friends out in the rural areas who are serving God and we spent an evening talking to 4 of them.

then we headed off to the Taj Mahal, left at 5 am for a 4 hour trip, the place is amazing. we had a tour guide dude who escorted us around, he was actually very good and explained a lot of the stuff going on adn the history. we had McDs for lunch, the first time for months and the only experience we had of western food till tonight. the Taj is amazing, one of the things you need to see in your lifetime. but pretty sad as well, such beauty and cost in such a poor place.

then we saw the Agra fort where soldiers have live for centuries, currently 35,000 of them! 10 times the NZ army in one base.

we also visited places where people are still doing inlay work the same way as they did it in the 16 hundreds when the Taj was built. we also bought a nice carpet to take home for the house.

last night the Nobles left us to return to NZ, we had such a cool time with them and will miss the noise, especially Jane, Andrew and MAtt. hey we miss you guys!!!!!!!! Laura is staying on and hanging out with us in Africa for a month.

tomorrow we head off to Mumbai (Bombay) and wait there for 12 hours in the airport. we might go for a tour of the city as well wihle we`re there. then it Jo`berg to stay with our friend the Dunn`s for a couple of days. so it`s been a bit quiet which has made it possible to catch up on the e-mails and watch teh Black caps get thrashed by Australia!!!

we`ll stay in touch, we love getting your comments and e-mails. put your e-mail address in the appropriate place to get updates if you haven`t already.

Love

Kevin and helen


11 hours at Mumbai

2007-04-24

The day began the night before really. We went out to dinner with Isaac Shaw and his family. They are a lovely family and the children are great. They ordered a pizza, and we ordered ours, theirs came just as we finished ours!! But they were great and very patient. Craig Dyer was with us from the US bright Hope office. So it was nice to catch up with him in India. We went to the restaurant by auto rickshaw, an experience in itself. We went about twice the distance as the driver was almost out of CNG. He tried to charge us for that bit of the trip too but we refused and he was grumbling all the way, something about CNG!!! But after asking a few directions he dropped us off and left us, saying, go that way pointing to the right. Well we stood there a minute or two and decided to go the other direction and we were right, it was the other way. But we got there. Isaac had some seats in in his vehicle for the trip home, so we all crammed into the van to stories of how many people you can fit in a Indian taxi! I mean, there were three of us in the auto rickshaw and we only just fitted, I’ve seen 9 Indians get out of one. Isaac was telling us that they can get 24 in the Delhi bible Institute 4x4. And that’s to do a trip in it, not just see how many will fit!

On the way home at 9:30 it was 40oC and by 9:am it was 44oC and rising. It was unbearably hot in the middle of the day. It got to us a little and my feet swelled up a lot and were quite painful during that night. But the next morning I had an early morning meeting with Isaac and then we headed off to the airport. The flight from Delhi to Mumbai was pretty uneventful, but the wait in Mumbai for 11 hours was a real pain. But you meet some interesting people as you hang around.

We transferred across to the international terminal but of course we couldn’t book in, in fact there were no flights leaving until about 7 that night and here we were at about 3:00, the whole place to ourselves...... except for two guys. Let me tell you about them. Nial was an Irishman, born with 50% Guinness in his blood, a Catholic and we heard his whole life story in about 10 minutes, well the overview anyway. He’d worked in heaps of places, Cambodia, Timor, Laos with the United nations. He boasted about his wild lifestyle, the whole story peppered with f***s and b*******s and h***s. It was so funny, he’s such an idiot, I’m sure his mother would disown him is she knew the half. Well he’d travelled in Iran and Iraq and by this time he’d downed a large bottle of Fosters Lager, bought with his last Rupias and he still had 12 hours to wait. We was getting married to a lovely Indian girl, a born – again Christian what ever that meant who “watched the b*****y evangelists on TV all day.” He’d been living with her for about 5 weeks now but they had to get properly married because the mother didn’t approve so he was back to Ireland for 4 weeks to sort things out with his family and to try and get some of them to come to the wedding. I tell you, it went on and on and on...... until Ernest came into the restaurant we have tucked ourselves into. While the story was going on Helen and I had ordered and eaten a nice Indian meal, our last in India for a while, and between mouthfuls of curry, rice, naan bread and sips of lassi the tale went on and on. Of course he now knew we were kiwis and all the jokes came out including frequent references to sheep and to evangelical Christians. Mind you, we gave back as much as we got.

Anyway, back to Ernest, a very simple dude from Maine who wandered into the conversation. He was standing off the side for a few minutes and between a mouthful curry and naan I asked him to sit down. Ernest was aptly named and his story could not be more different than poor old Nial. He had read books about India on the farm in Maine from when he was a kid and wanted to go there one day. So he saved up and booked flight to Mumbai. So he arrived for two weeks, he was booked into a hotel in town. The poor guy, this was his 1st trip out of the US and here he is in India, Mumbai!! He said in his plaintive little voice, “I knew the moment I stepped out of the plane I was in the wrong place.” He arrived there with nothing planned, no one to meet him, no idea about what there was to do and not even a Lonely Planet guide. The guy was from another planet. He had been ripped off, robbed, hadn’t slept for 3 days and was a real mess. He shifted out of the hotel after two nights and came back the airport to sleep. “They only eat Indian food here” he said. Well hello, you’re in India!!!! He was heading home after 3 days of misery!!!! He had cashed all his $US into rupias and had his pockets bulging full of money and just had no idea.

Well, while he told us his story Nial was taking the mickey out of him. Nial really didn’t like Americans cause he’s been involved in a demonstration a few years ago in London when a protest crowd against the Gulf war crashed down the barriers on the US Embassy and he found himself inside the embassy. He then found his passport stamped with a big red stamp that said he could never visit America. He tried to go there on a new passport but he was still and outcast. Even he was feeling sorry for old Ernest by the time he finished his story and suggested that because they had 12 hours still to wait and that Ernest still had thousands of rupias in his pocket that they should go and get p*******d. Ernest didn’t know what that meant and it required a bit of explaining. Anyway, 2 hours have gone past and we decide to go for a walk. When we got back to restaurant we sat in a different place to try and have a snooze and do some work on the computer. They settled in to watch a DVD on Nial’s computer and Ernest was amazed that he could do that!! About 90 minutes later they walked off arm in arm, to who knows where. Lonely people, confused people, sad people.

Oh yea, the thing that made me really laugh about Nial was that here he was, living with a girl in India illegally, setting up a business that he’d had to pay heaps of bribes to set up, having lived a life of a rogue and now he as setting up this business to teach people how to ethically use resources and manage the environment!! Now ethics is about how you use natural resources and whether or not you can gain carbon credits, it’s about sleeping with as many people as you like as long as you wear a condom and it doesn’t matter if they’re the same sex or, getting p******d and polluting your body with tobacco and hashish is OK as long as everyone else thinks it’s OK and as long as you don’t hurt anyone. And you can do all this and feel you have the right to teach about ethical behaviour and attitudes. Pretty bizarre really, when you think about it.

So by now those guys will be in England and the US and we’re in Johannesburg. I wonder if the few moments we had together, fellow travellers n the road of life made any difference in their lives. Hopefully the few words may have caused them to think about eternity. But it just reminded me that here we were, in North India with such blatant non Christian worship and values, and here were a couple western guys, just as lost, just as lonely with no more idea about living that anyone else.

So I’m sitting in the sun in Jo’burg, Helen’s having a snooze, it’s midday on Monday and India seems a long way off. What a rich world we live in, people are so amazing. We have already met so many great people on this trip. Many of them have reminded us that we are here to serve, and serving others always comes at a cost. I’ve also been reminded that there are many genuine people out there giving their lives away in a quest for meaning. And many people in the churches of NZ have found the meaning of life and have lost the sense of quest, the sense of purpose, the sense of being involved in what God is doing in the world. Shame.

Anyway, you don’t need to hear a sermon from me. We’ll be in touch from Zambia in a few days.

Love to everyone.

Kevin and Helen.


in zambia and loving it

2007-04-27

Hey there

Here we are in zambia after a few quiet days. We got to Jo’burg OK from Mumbai, we even slept after popping some sleeping tablets. So it was great to catch a few zzzzs on the plane, not something we often do. Helen wasn’t that well when we got there and for the first of two days with our friends Dave and Greta Dunn, she was really tired and slept most of the first day and her left wrist and hand swelled up terribly and were very painful. Fortunately it’s settling down again now.

On the second day there we were up at 5:00 am to go to the airport to pick up our friend Laura Noble, she’s travelling with us for our time in Zambia. We showed her around parts of Jo’burg after she had caught up on a couple of hours sleep. Dave and Greta loaned us their car for the day. It was great to catch up with them and their family. It’s 3 years since we saw them and the kids are married or about to be and all grown up. They took us out to a Portuguese restaurant on the last evening, it was lovely. Except for the cricket score that was!!!!

Then it was up early again and 5 of us plus luggage into the car and off to the airport. There were no hassles getting up to and into Zambia, so here we are, at Maplehurst Farm. There is so much to catch up on and so many people to talk to it’s going to be a busy week. Tomorrow Kevin is going a couple hours away to look at a tractor for the farm, Helen will have time to use the computer. Then there is a farewell fro Zambia to David and Lyn Salisbury, NZ missionaries here for over 40 years I guess. We worked with them way back in the 80s when we lived here. So it will be nice to see them and honour their commitment.

We brought some engine parts for a broken down vehicle, the minibus we are going to use while here, so it was good to have the right parts. You never can quite tell they are the right ones till they are fitted and working!

we have such an awesome team here in zambia that we`ll be spending the next few days talking to and planning. Bright Hope has great people.

Thanks for your interest, love and support.

Kevin and Helen.


gone for a week

2007-05-02

Hi there friends

Thanks for all the comments and and e-mails. It’s amazing how much it encourages us. Just a short note as we shoot out the door for 8 days in the bush at Samfya.

The last few days we’ve been at Maplehurst Farm meeting with the team and sorting through the issues of farm and team life. It’s been great, we have such an awesome team here. Our friends from the US arrived yesterday and today we all, 11 of us and luggage, pile into a 15 seater van and travel 700 km. So it’s going to be a tight squeeze.

We’ll be out of contact till next Wednesday night so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear anything from us. We have a cell phone here now that is in range, +260 98 0

We value you prayer and support and 59455 if you want / need to call.

We’ll be back in a week with lots of stories.

Love

Kevin and Helen


catching our breath

2007-05-10

Hey

We’re back in one piece from Samfya and here are a few highlights and photos.

• 11 westerners in a 15 seater van with 3 seats removed and a pile of luggage travelling 600 kms with only 3 toilets to stop at!

• Leaving at 7:30 and remembering that the keys were back at base, turning around to get them, didn’t get away till 9:00 the 2nd time!!! Fortunately kevin wasn’t there, he had gone ahead to check out tractors and waited on the side of the road for 1 ½ for the bus to come!!!! He was found sitting outside a roadside bar with about 20 Zambians laughing at his stories.

• Our friend Hudson who gets up at 2:00 am every day to read his Bible and pray. His wife gets up at 4 and they worship together for 2 hours before going to the fields for 1 ½ hours. He then goes off to work at SCCP visiting the schools and the 1000 children on the program. He has 7 of his own children and 4 other orphans plus a couple of other people living in his house. The house is about the size of our lounge and there are 15 people living in it along with 37 chickens!!! There is no other way to survive he says. You have to draw your strength from God when you’re poor and you want to serve God!

• It was the week before school started and 100s of kids were visiting the building we stayed in to collect their exercise books and shoes for the next term. Beautiful children!

• Meeting Ntlasha, a 23 year old guy. He is being sponsored in the 1st year of teacher training. We visited his home and here’s the story. Grandmother looks after 22 grandchildren.... she has bone cancer in her hip and there are no drugs to help or even ease the pain. Her brother was helping her look after the kids..... but he died last week.... you just cannot do nothing when faced with this kind of desperation!!!

• 100s of people singing and dancing, whooping and hollering as we went to visit some of our friends in one of the churches on Sunday morning. These guys worship with their whole body, not just a neat and tidy worship time, it’s all on.

I’ll fill you in on a few others in a day or two, before we leave for Ethiopia.

We’ve been away for 5 weeks now and the tiredness is setting in a bit. It’s good to have a few days here at the farm with our friends. It’s great to be able to come back to a familiar place for a few days. We continue to count on you for your prayers and thanks you for being with us on the journey.

Twatotela bane (thanks friends)

Kevin and Helen


moving on in africa

2007-05-12

it`s been great to have a bit of a spell at Maplehurst farm, catching up with our friends and sorting out our stuff for the next leg. while in samfya we met some great people, let me tell you about them:

*in one of the pix last time you saw a group of people standing around a lady. she had a huge sore on her leg, like an ulcer, she`s had it for 7 years. yep. you heard it right. she hobbles around the place in pain all day, it was good to be able tohelp in a small way

*Charles is a guy you will hear about in the next few weeks. he`s started a care program for 196 orphans and vulnerable children. so a church from Christchurch has joined up to support it and in a few weeks will be in the village to help with building a skilss training centre. he is just an amazing guy and fully sold out to showing Christ`s love to hurting people.

*the minister at the United Church of zambia telling me about his concern for all the youg girls in the fishing villages who were being froced into marriage at 13 and 14 and then getting HIV / AIDS

*the young guy who was hurting becasue he wanted to be amissionary but it was too hard to raise the finances in Zambia

*the rows and rows of children with no hope of a future without some sort of intervention.

* the beautiful children with such sad eyes

anyway, tomorrow morning we head off to Lusaka and fly out at about 3:30 to Addis Ababa. it will be a new adventure, a new team from the USA, Jared coming in to spend time with us and more great people to meet. we may not be able to be in touch regualry over the next 2 weeks. we`ll try to find internet cafes but in the North it`s not quite som easy. we know you`ll be with us and we really appreciate that,

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen


in addis and heading north

2007-05-16

hi there team from Addis Ababa

we`re about to move into the north of Ethiopia later today, so time for a catch up. we`ve no hassles getting the whole team into ethiopia, everyone got here without hassle. it was easier than last time here, there are a lot more tourists here just 18 months after being here the last time. so it`s more user friendly for strangers like us.

it`s been great to catch up with some of our friends here. we`ve been doing orientation with the us team, 7 people from Fellowship Bible church in Dallas, TExas, really nice people. so today they get to the North to visit the people they came to meet. the last 2 days we`ve been visiting some of the sites of ethiopia. so far:

*the largest open market in East africa, dangerous, pickpockets, hustlers, spices, smoke, dirt and dust, really friendly people who love to laugh but who don`t have much to smile about.

*beggars, never seen so many, 100s on the streets, babies with mothers, people with deformed body parts proudly displayed, little kids living on the streets selling everything, aggressive if you don`t give, many professional beggars, how do you know who is genuine, tough decisions...

*the Tomb of menelik, most important historical figure of ethiopia, incense gets right up your nose, filthy priests and guides begging for money and not happy with what you give them

*university museum, fascinating culture, ancient culture, superstitious culture and very, very many people under spiritual bondage, criminal treatment from the priest, living in total fear and poverty

anyway, we`re a bit tired at the moment, don`t really know why, just the drain of constant moving, but we have a great team.

we`ll catch up again when we get up North

thanks for the messages, we really love them

Kevin and Helen


beautiful places, beautiful people

2007-05-21

It’s 8:30 am, or 2:30, Ethiopian time and we’re sitting on the breakfast patio of the hotel we stayed at last night. We’re looking out over Lake Tana in Bahir Dar. It’s a totally beautiful scene of peace and tranquillity. Mind you , we’ve had to pay for it, $US6 / night and breakfast about half that!

But the stories we have heard in the last few days sure strip away the sight and reveal a disturbing reality. We’ve been talking to a group of church leaders and workers who are facing huge persecution, here are some bits and pieces:

· We met a guy working among a tribe of people who still wear no clothes and who eat everything they can lay their hands on, cats, birds and rats. Nothing is safe. He can go there and do that but his family cannot go with him

· Another guy had walked 12 hours, done 3 hours in a car and 3 hours in a bus to visit us for and hour. He works on the Sudan border and has stories of beatings, his house being burned and being punched and kicked

· There is a huge influx of Moslems in the North of Ethiopia, funded from the Arab countries. They are buying their way into villages and hacking Christians to death. I’ve just watched a video of a group of people who have been killed by a group of Moslem’s. Life is tough here.

· Ethiopia has the 2nd highest % of HIV+ sufferers in Africa now. In country with a population approaching 70 million that makes for millions of sufferers. The number of beggars on the streets and children living rough is appalling. The churches are really keen to help but have few resources.

· A lot of our friends could not meet us in a public place otherwise they would have been beaten for it.

We arrived in Bahir Dar on Wednesday. The plane took off OK but after 20 minutes we had to turn back to Addis. After a 30 minute wait we were on our way again to Bahir Dar, 55 minutes away. This time we got there OK and climbed into the bus. We arrived at the same hotel we are in at the moment. We met with a group of church workers and leaders and about 9:00 pm got back to the restaurant. We had a huge feast of beautiful Ethiopian food. So it was late to bed that night. The next morning we got up a 5:30 to hit the road at 7:00. We got away at 8:15, I’m discovering that and hour late is not late at all.

We headed off, but of course there was no diesel in the bus, or the first gas station we went to. So we really got under way another 30 minutes later. But no problem, we only had about 11 hours drive ahead of us! We changed plans. We were on the way to Debra Markos via Chagni. We were to meet some people on the way and hear their story. We couldn’t go to their village as it would cause them real trouble. So we met them on the side of the road and they crowded into the bus and recounted their stories; tales of persecution, hunger, long distances and beatings. At the same time stories of faith, joy and people coming into relationship with God. Pretty inspiring really, pretty hair raising too.

We got to Debra Markos with thunder crashing around us and rain threatening. We have a coffee and then went off to hear more stories. More of the same, more grief and joy. After that we visited some widows and orphans in their little house, about the size of a chicken coop. Really poor, really sad but they smile and tell us their stories too. 2 little boys are living with the two widows and a handicapped woman. She’s amazing, she has never had one day at school. She can read the bible but nothing else, not even her name!! Explain that!

Then the heavens broke and we got soaked getting from the bus into the hotel for dinner. Another late dinner, another late night and another cold shower. I’ve had two hot showers in the last three weeks!!!! Imagine....

Yesterday we drove back from Debra Markos to Bahir dar, stopping for the loo, for a cup of coffee and lunch and then another bus meeting where 3 more guys told us their stories. One guy walks 25 km 4 times a week to do his church work. Very inspiring, how can we help these guys, can we help them?

Back here to the nice hotel for another beautiful meal, oh, after the usual meeting with another group of leaders!!! The stories are becoming very familiar now. Today we head of to Gondar past the source of the Blue Nile, or more aptly named, the brown Nile!! Hopefully we can get this out tonight, not much internet in Bahir Dar.

Love

Kevin and Helen

p.s. we couldn’t get this out till Monday, we’ll get another, hopefully with photos tomorrow


going for it in Gondar

2007-05-22

hi there friends

thanks for the e-mails and messages, it`s always great to hear from people we love. we`re alive and well in Gondar, a city in the North of Ethiopia. the last few days have been great but we`re really tired. Hardly slept at all last night with all the noise out side and viscious beasts inside. at 3 am i emerged bloodied from the battle with a hoard of the most dangerous animals in Africa. the walls, the shhets and even my face was splattered with blood at we battled valiantly to stem the flow of the onsluaght. finally we slumped into our beds to sleep fitfully until the moslem prayer calls woke us 3 minutes later!

anyway, i`ve only seen one mozzie since and it has been added to the body count!!! the last few days.... where do we begin:

* more stories of persecuation and trial, it just goes on and on

*the locals are battling for the good news about jesus and their national identity. they are very afraid of the increasing Moslem growth and fear more war in their beloved land

*we looked o ut from the hill overlooking Gondar as teh sun set last night. a beautiful sight. from up there all the poverty, corrunption and the stink of humna habitation was gone and for a moment it looked very beautiful10 minutes later we were in the thick of it as our ratlle trap bus coasted the 3 km into town without putting it into gear

*we met with hundreds of Ethiopian believers in church on Sunday morning and saw 3 people give their lives to Jesus. they sure can sing!!!

*we visited the parents of our friend from New Zealand, Worku. they servrd us coffee and buns, hospitality is part of the culture here, even though poor

*we visited a ministry that cares for 50 destitute widows. they are beggars and street women, no-one to care. no one to love, abandone by their families and friends, their church and their community. when did you last kiss a leper beggar?

* our 7 US friends left yesterday so we have a couple of days here to catch our breath. it`s been nice to revisit the widow partnership, to be able to make some plans for more resources to come here an to drink a few decent cups of coffee.

tomorrow we head off to Axum and then Thursday to Lalibela, some tourist sites. oh we did a couple hours tourist stuff on Sunday after church. there are some amazing castle ruins here in Gondar, we`ll try and get some pictures onthis blog when we get to the USA.

well, that`s enough from us

Love

Kevin and Helen


Rocks, time warps and great friends in Ethiopia

2007-05-28

Well we’ve come to the last days of our time in Ethiopia. It’s been an amazing journey really. Great people, amazing stories of persecution and trial, grinding poverty and interesting food. The last couple of days have kind of brought it all together in some ways.

We’ve been in Axum and Lalibela, two of the most fascinating places on the earth I’m sure. In Axum we visited the burial sites of ancient civilizations, from before the time of Christ. One tomb we climbed down into was dated at the time of Jesus and as we climbed down the dusty stairs it was like moving into a time warp. Huge big obelisks designating tombs climb into the air, the tallest about 21 metres. There is one fallen one that is 33 metres high, or low at the moment cause it’s horizontal! Huge areas have still not been explored or dug. This is the area the Queen of Sheba came from and we visited one of her bathing spots. As we were leaving the place a bunch of Sudanese important officials arrived so the place was crawling in armed police. The officials wanted their photos taken with us, on our cameras and theirs! I don’t get it really. I felt like telling them to sort out Dafur before I would let them have a photo but didn’t in the end! If there is a place with more rocks than Axum I would be very surprised. The fact that this was the centre of a sophisticated culture more than 3000 years ago makes it even more amazing. It’s like standing in Bible times, donkeys, horses and camels traipse along the roads and paths and there are beggars on every corner.

Then we went on to Lailibela, a hugely impressive place. The countryside has massive bluffs and rocky outcrops. Huge towering bluffs loom over scruffy little villages. Huge rock falls pour rocks down the cliffs. Whole hillsides are washed out and there are feeble attempts to stop the rest of the countryside flowing into the rivers and out to sea. It’s a desolate place. But then you come to these amazing churches, carved out of solid rock. There are 34 of these amazing structures built between the 5th and 13th Centuries. The pathetic sight of old people worshiping the buildings and pictures of old, dead “saints” wants to make me puke. It’s obscene, it’s so futile. The whole country is built on history, old stuff that is totally useless in today’s age as they are all dusty and dead.

We got angry that day, all of us, as we were ripped off at the entry to the churches, begged at by every priest and then assaulted by all the beggars living around the churches. This church is so locked into the past that it cannot see or respond to the poverty it has largely been responsible for creating; very angry indeed.

Lots of walking to along cobblestone streets and looking through more ancient sites. The people are really friendly and everyone in the street wants to shake your hand. Last night we had a great local meal in a scruffy little restaurant across the street from the Asheten Hotel, our fine abode while in Lalibela. No power, no water but what the heck!! It’s probably the best place in town to stay.

And now we’re in Chicago, talk about time warp. It was sad to say goodbye to the lovely people on the team. Worku, our Ethiopian friend from New Zealand has an amazing heart for people, especially the poor and he looked after us so well. I’ve rarely met such a giving person. More than once he was in tears at the sight of the desperation and poverty. Mekashaw, who travelled with us, pastor of a church of 450 people who finished sitting his theology degree papers the 1st two days we were there. He presented each of the team with a beautiful piece of local clothing before we left, such a man of passion and action. We’ll not forget his generosity and the many laughs we had with him. Brenda, now back in Zambia, it was fun to have her on the team. We speaks with such passion about the work of God and the need to relate and engage with people cross culturally. Wherever we went she was dispensing medical advice, a few basic pills and lot’s of care to the poor. One time she kept us all waiting while she went back to see a little old woman monk who was very unwell. And Jared, he gets angry at injustice and the impact that grinding poverty produces in people. It was great to see and sense God at work in him and I’m sure there will be many more opportunities to address some of those issues in the future and there will be more adventures to have. Unfortunately, he saw Liverpool beaten late one night in a grubby little hotel, the only one playing the game in Axum.

Now it’s meetings for 4 days and a long trip home to NZ. Not sure we’re ready for the meetings or the trip. But there is important stuff to do here and it will have eternal outcomes as well as immediate impact on the lives of the poor.

We’ve posted some new photos for you to check out too. We’ve also updated the itinerary to include the next part of the journey as well. We’re back in NZ on Saturday morning but we’re only back for 3 weeks before the next jaunt to Africa. It’s really just another 3 week stop. It will be great to rest for a couple of days and catch up with our family and friends. Thanks for being one of them.

Love

Helen and Kevin


coming home today

2007-05-31

hi there friends

today`s the day, we fly home to NZ. it`s been a challenge the last few days to stay awake and focussed on the meetings we`ve been in and having to contribute to. we`ve barely survived the hospitality of our friends here and the huge servings at the restaurants!!! but it`s been cool to catch up wtih everyone here and bring together some plans for the future that will enhance what`s going on.

we get home on Saturday morning ealy, but we will not answer the phone straight away!! except from friends like you guys. it`s been awesome to have you one the trip. we are very aware of your interest. thanks especially to those who prayed and wrote to us.

we`ve got about 5 hours of meetings left before we head off to Ohare airport, fly to San Francisco and then to Auckland. as we fly home we also review the trip and we will have lots of memories from this one. not to metion heaps of reports to finish!!!! but even now as i sit here lots of great people come to mind. lots of great people, lots` of generous people, lot`s of very poor people. it`s great o be able to bring some assistance and joy to the poor in the name of Jesus and see hope spring into their hearts, lives, eyes and families. it`s such a privilege.

well, off to attck another day and claim a few minutes of progress

God bless and thanks

Helen and Kevin


about town and off again

2007-06-17

Dear friends and family,

You’ll notice from our diary that we are about to take off for Africa again. Boy, the 3 weeks have flown and we’re nowhere near ready to go. With all that in mind we’ve made a few changes and we want to let you know about them. But before that, a brief update.

We got back to NZ OK, good seats on the plane and we spelt pretty well. But it’s murder travelling that far in one hop so it’s taken a while to bounce back. When we got back we spent some time with the family in Auckland. We really appreciate Glen and Muzz Cooper and the way they let us crash on them. We don’t have a house here, or anywhere for that matter so it’s good of t hem to let us mess their lives up. We are building a house at the moment, Glena and Muzz are in charge of that! It’s coming along well, when it’s finished you are welcome to comes and stay at Tindalls Bay, Whangaparaoa, North of Auckland.

We then went down to Levin and spent time with our families and church. My (Kevin) mum is fine and we stayed with her and let her spoil us with lovely roasts etc. Helen’s dad is not well at all and we found him very fragile health wise. He is in hospital and future looks pretty uncertain. We then met with a bunch of about 40 friends from church on the Saturday evening and spoke to the church on Sunday morning, pretty much about the trip we had just finished. It was nice to catch up with everyone.

We then went down to Christchurch after Levin and spent some time with the team in the office. They are a great bunch of people but they make us work too hard! We were thinking about going to live in Chch but I don’t think I could handle the pressure. We sorted out a heap of issues and picked up our tickets as well.

After visiting her dad a few times and thinking about it all, Helen decided she wanted to stay a little longer in NZ to see him again. So she is not coming to Zambia with me. We checked out the cost to change the tickets and it was only $10 so she has delayed her trip until the 9th July. I leave this Friday the 22nd and she comes a few days later. This will give her time to go back to Levin and spend some time with her father.

While in Chch we also decided we wouldn’t go back to Africa later this year. A new couple is joining the team in Zambia and they will take over a lot of the work that we would be going to do, so that’s great. Rob Purdue and I will do 3 weeks in Asia instead and you’ll hear the details of that as they emerge.

After Christchurch we came back to Auckland, Hamilton and Rotorua catching up with friends and doing a meeting with some Waikato farmers. Now it’s finalizing the details of the next trips and for the house and catching up with all the e-mails it’s hard to do on the road.

We value you ongoing support and prayers and look forward to you being with us on the next leg of the journey. There is so much happening out there with our partners I would love to share with you, in fact, I’ll do that from the next blog, one partner per blog.

Love to you all

Helen and Kevin


back at it in Zambia

2007-06-30

Hey there friends

Sorry about the long delay since the last update. It’s been pretty hectic over the last couple of weeks but it’s all good.

Helen is in Levin spending time with her dad so that’s been great. He seems to have improved and yesterday was transferred back to the rest home he had been living in. He’s one tough guy and bounces back with amazing courage. He had transfusions and that’s really helped. So Helen is feeling much better now she has seen him so improved. She has enjoyed catching up with friends and family too and is currently staying with her sister Jenny.

I left NZ on the 22nd and flew to Bangkok, changed planes and then landed in Jo’burg. I got a great sleep on the second flight and an hour or two on the first one. I then had 24 hours in Jo’burg and spent much of it just resting. I watched the ABs beat the boks in a pub, it was great to be the only kiwi amongst a couple of hundred South Africans. On the Sunday I flew up to Lusaka and Jerry and Hayley Field picked me up. We got some money from the ATM and is found a place to stay and I caught up on a few reports. Then Monday I flew off to Chipata, a city on the border with Malawi. We have two partnerships out there and I haven’t been there for a year.

So we spent some time with Dick and Anita Mumba. He’s African and she’s from the South Pacific, a little island with just 1,000 inhabitants. They are trying to run a small school in Chipata, mainly with street kids and orphans. It’s a real struggle and they have little support and few resources. I don’t know how they do it frankly. But they battle on and are getting good results with the kids in their exams, 20 times better than the government schools.

Then I got a motorbike and headed out to the bush to visit Lonard and Rose Daka. We have known them for more than 20 years and they are a real inspiration. He went there in 1987 to a situation where there were hardly any churches. Now there are many. The area was totally controlled by witchcraft, now there are huge changes of attitude and lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, these people are very poor, especially this year as the crops were ruined by huge rains.

They run a program there for about 50 kids. They send them to school and teach then skills like knitting, farming and metal work. He has a team of people around him to help and they are such a great bunch. The kids were all in school so I only saw a few of them, usually they meet on Saturday. The next day we went to a little village about 70 km into the bush, Chitandika and we met the teams from 6 more churches. 4 of them have a started little groups to care for orphans, modelled on what Lonard and Rose are doing. So we spent the whole day with them setting them up to a point where we can start supporting. There are so many issues they face, the largest being jealously. It was a full on day, driving in there, talking for about 4 hours, eating a local meal driving home again, arriving at Lonard and Rose’s place at sundown. We then spent the evening working on the shape of the program for the next year.

Thursday saw us up at 6 and trying to get away from the house by 8. Not possible, nothing can hurry up the start of the day. Anyway, we left at 9:30 for a 40 minute walk to the next village. It should have taken 30 minutes but we had to greet everyone on the road and in some case go off the road to say hello. We were supposed to be at a new school that we have been working with, about 400 people had been waiting for a couple of hours by the time we got there!!! Lonard seemed unconcerned! It was great to see the school building almost completed. A year ago it was a jumble of bricks. Now it’s got 230 kids in it and there are a bunch of teachers. We discovered that there is a lot still to do here, it will take years but the community has really pulled together, it’s a shame the government can’t get their act together to do the same. The locals were really slacked off at the speech the local councillor made, he said nothing and they were really peeved.

Then, after receiving some gifts, two bunches of bananas, two bags of peanuts and a duck, we set off for the walk home. On the way we visited one of the most desperate families I have ever met. Grandma, 87 years old, she had given birth to 14 children, two were still alive and one of them, the youngest at 32 was on her last legs, dying from HIV / AIDS. Both the grandmother and the daughter had accident last year and are on crutches and in severe pain all the time. The 14 year old daughter of the daughter looked after them, so she didn’t get to go to school. They had little to eat, nothing in the house, there was not even a stool to sit on so we sat on the floor. What do you say, what so you do? I came away further enraged by the impact of AIDs and more enraged by the desperate state of so many people. I tell you, there are literally thousands of families like this, many of them can only be cared for; they can hardly raise a finger to help themselves. I am totally impressed by the church that Lonard and Rosemary lead. They visit two or three times a week, some walk for more than an hour each way to assist this family.

We then walked back to Lonard and Rose’s and had lunch, 3 pm. It’s been a long day already. About 4:30, after Rose had ironed my clothes I headed back to Chipata on the motorbike arriving as the sun set. I found a place to stay and headed back to see Dick and Anita. Had a nice evening with them and got back to my room about 7:30. Had a nice surprise, Helen rang and we had a chat. It was lovely to hear from her, I hate this not being together thing.

I tried to write up some stuff but my eyes kept shutting so gave in about 9 o’clock and went to sleep...... until 11:30 and then the big D struck, the squirts..... Must have been something I ate, or drank, maybe the mice we had for lunch! Then about 4:30 am both ends were going..... that’s way too much information. It had settled down in time for me to catch a taxi to the airport and catch the plane. I was still feeling squeamish and the 15 minute flight to Mfuwe was a 8,000 feet, very bumpy and the two guys behind me were chundering their little hearts out..... well, I was pretty green too by the time the 15 minutes was up, but I held it in. The next hour flight was a breeze and I got into Lusaka again to meet jerry and Hayley and Rob Purdue, my boss. We cruised up to Maplehurst Farm and I ate something, and it stayed down, so it seems like I’m back to normal again. It was great to see the team here last night.

Today we’re going to watch the ABs play the Wallabies so that will be fun. Then it’s catching up with heaps of reports and preparing for a team from Christchurch, NZ, who arrive on Tuesday. I’m going to put a few pix in this so enjoy. Thanks so much for you involvement in our lives. It’s a huge encouragement.

Love

Kevin and Helen


freezing in zambia and new zealand

2007-07-04

Hey there friends and team mates,

Another update before Kevin goes bush and Helen hits the air. Thanks for the notes and emails, really appreciate them. Helen is back in Auckland after her trip to Levin, it was great to be able to spend some time with her dad and some of the family members. Good to catch up with other friends and family too. Now it’s a few visits to Sara (who has been in Australia for 10 days) and last minute packing before leaving NZ on the 9th. She gets to Zambia on the 11th but we don’t hook up again till the 13th, Friday I think!

The last few days have been pretty fill on. There have been heaps of reports to write up after the trip to Chipata and all the work we are doing at Bright Hope with website development. So after getting back from the mouse meal a few things have happened:

• The ABs got beaten by the Wallabies.... a bunch of us kiwis watched it in disbelief at Sam Salisbury’s place!! Shame

• Am trying to recuperate from a chest infection, lots’ of coughing, snorting and loud breathing

• Had a trip to Lusaka to meet a couple coming in from New Zealand and a meeting with the accountant for the farm company here

• Picked up another bunch of NZers from Lusaka, there are more than 20 NZers here today at the farm

• Come across a man dead on the road earlier today, obviously hit by a car or fallen of a truck, shame

• Tried to keep warm, it’s freezing here at the moment, about 100 or colder at night. And we’re all going camping tomorrow. The locals say it’s the coldest year for in living memory. I can quite believe it.

• NZ last the Americas Cup, so not a good week to be a NZer, sport wise anyway.

Tomorrow morning we head off to Ndola where we used to live in the 80s. We’ll be visiting Isubilo – check it out at www.isubilo.org - and GLO Zambia, our old stomping ground. Then it’s out to visit some friends near to Ndola before heading out into the deep bush for most of next week. It’s going to be cold, full of meetings, writing reports, 1,000s of kms and showing the NZ team around our partners. They will be helping to build a skills training centre in Kaishe village, about 450 km into the bush from here in Kabwe. It will be great to visit our friends there, they are such great people. They have about 200 orphans and vulnerable children, helping then to go to school and with medical and food supplements.

So dear friends, there are some zzzzzzzzzs to catch in Zambia and Helen has some stuff to do I’m sure. Thanks for sticking with us on the trip, it’s


people, people, people

2007-07-08

it`s been a few days since we caught up so here is a brief note. kevin is in samfya typing this at our project here. it`s great, the internet is now up and working here, amazing, way outin the bush and connected to the world. this will be a big benefit to th elocal community once we get access srtoed out to the rest of the community.

Helen will be sitting on the plane, having just left NZ for Africa. she`ll be 12 hours to Bangkok then another 12 to Johannesburg. she has 24 hours in Jo`burg and then to Lusaka on Wednesday. we`ll meet up on Friday, possibly at Maplehurst Farm in Kabwe.

the last few days have been eventful. the team from Christchurch arrived and we`ve been on the road for a few days. their plane was cancelled so they arrived a day late, but at least had all their luggage, that`s a bonus here!!!!

we took them to the Farm for a night and then went off to GLO Zambia. it was great fro them to catch up with each other as the NZ church has been supproting some of the people at GLO for a number of years. then we went about 2 1/2 hours away to visit two partnerships. it was great to see little kids being cared for.

then we travelled 8 hours os Saturday to a little village called Kaishe. the team is staying there for 5 nights. we stayed in tents for a night and then came on to Samfya. man i`m tired, we had meetings till 10:30 last night and we`re off to the bush and camping for the next two nights in Kawambwa. the we at the moment are Rob Puedus from Bright Hope, Michael Tan and Phil Stedman from Riccarton Community Church. so we`ve got the next couple of nights together while the rest of the team stay at Kaishe and build a Skills Training Centre.

yesterday Brenda Savill caught uip wit us on the bus with Jason and Aimee McGregor. J and A will travel with us for the rest of this trip in Zambia and then on to Kenya and uganda. will be great to get to know them. they were blotto after theri long plane trip and bus trip too.

i`m not very well still, coughing, sneezing and headaches. bit of a pain really. but we`ll survive. so, i`ll be back in touch in a couple of days. really value your prayers over the next little while.

love and best reagrds

Kevin and Helen


in the bush and lots of great people

2007-07-12

hi there

one more sleep and we are together again. we`ve been at least in the same country for the last day. Helen arrived on Wednesday and about now should be in Kabwe. I`m in samfya about 600 kms away.

since the last update i`ve been in the bush, first in the village of Kaishe and then in Musambeshi. in the first village we took a group of people from Christchurch. it`s great to see the people in the village so encouraged by the involvement of the team. they helped build a skills training centre. they also ran programs for the kids in the villages and the orphans. there are about 230 in the program being helped to go to school. a 61 year old guy came and applied to be part of the orphan program as hid mother had just died and now he was an orphan. he`s a trier.

then we shot through to the North of Zambia with three other guys. we had an amazing day really. we visited farm we have established and saw all the palm oil trees that have been planted, and the bananas, pineapples and citrus trees. we also saw the 25 cows in the area. then we visited some of the 180 orphans, what a pitiful bunch of people. such a shame but some of them now have a little hope. i`ve put in a couple of photos so you can meet some of them. then we visited one of the biggest chiefs in Zambia, he was a nice old guy. we then ate a huge meal of local food and went off at dusk to meet another sub chief. he`s a crazy old guy, but really likeable. he wants us to buy anothe piece of land near his place, he`s already given us 300 hectares. so it was great to see the development going on.

we`ve had a real problem in the area with the pigs we were growing. we had 40 at one time and they got swine fever and all died. then some thieves came in and kileed a bunch of them and just as teh herd was growing again some leopards came in and killed some more. so, we decided to give all the pigs away to the guardians of the orphans. great idea, about 40 families were growing their little herds. 7 pigs makes a family self sufficient here. then a disaster, a pig, not one of ours by the way, kileed two young babies, twins, and ate them!!!! the parent then went and killed the owners of the pigs. so the chief said, all the pigs in the kingdom must die, except the KERO farms pigs, they are out ones and they are well behaved. so, all the pigs were killed including all the ones given to the guardian families. sometimes i wonder about this place and is it`s even worth trying!!!

yesterday we came back to samfya and it`s been a day of meetings. one after another, i`m meetinged out frankly.

still got a hacking cough but i`m starting to pick up now. tomorrow we go with 6 of us to visit some friends in Mkushi and hopefully enjoy a day off. oh, yea, did i mention, Helen and i will be together again!!! great stuff

enjoy and love like it`s your last day on earth

Kevin and Helen


back together and loving it

2007-07-19

hey there everyone

it`s still cold here in Zambia, everyone is complaining about it. they all say it`s the coldest winter they can remember. the locals are all wrapped up in sweaters and woolly hats and constantly complain about it. so it`s been a bit of a shock, it won`t improve next week when we get to Nairobi, it will be wet as well there.

well, we finally met on Friday afternoon. Rob Purdue, my mate and boss took the team from Riccarton Community Church down to Lusaka and he picked Helen up. they then came back to Maplehurst Farm for a night before heading off to Mkushi. Helen had no hassles on the planes and made all her connections and got all her baggage. that`s something you don`t take for granted! on the same day i travelled to Mkushi from Samfya. we had a great weekend. Friday night we stayed at Mkushi with Barton and Yvonne Young, folks we have known for a long time. they have huge farms in Zambia. we stayed there, and on Saturday morning watched the All Blacks play the Boks. after lunch we shifted out of there and to a motel up the road. some more friends from NZ were there too so we spent the afternoon and evening catching up. they are hard cases. they have come to Africa for a year and are cruising around seeing if they can be of any help. they`ve bought a 1950s Chevvy, probabaly the only one in Africa and are cruising around in style. it`s such a hoot of a car with an Elvis on the dash board jiggling away at every bump. the car would be worth mega bucks in NZ but they bought it for $4,000.

anyway, we spent the night in a lovely lodge with a grass roof. the next morning we woke early, this is Sunday, and headed off North to see something special. the Youngs, our friends from Mkushi, are developing a 10,000 hectare Game Farm and Cattle ranch, the idea is that they will use it for generating income, eco-tourism, game trophy hunting, conservation education and a whole lot more. this is right in the bush, miles from anywhere and bordering a Game Management Area and some cool caves with rock paintings on them, thousands of years old. it`s also close to the place where David Livingstone died. anyway, when we got there we found 36 Dutch young people building a school!!!! really wierd to find them all in the iddle of the African bush. so a school is being built and next year a clinic as part of the project. our friends are looking for investment partners in this project, it`s pretty large. to put a fence around the perimeter, 62 kms, will cost about $US130,000, then there`s all the animals to buy, a 17 metre high dam and hydro electric generator, houses, staff etc. is there anyone out there with a few 100,000 $s to invest. it looks like an amazing opportunity to own a huge part of original Africa.

anyway, that was SUnday. it was a 3 hour drive each way and we spent about 4 hours traipsing around the 10,000 ha and checking out the Nsalu caves. then Yvonne filled us up, man can that woman cook. our friends were blown away by it all.

then it was back to Maplehurst Farm on Monday. since then we have been working through the issues to get the Farm up to speed and encouraging the team. that will go on until Monday, then Tuesday we`re out of here.

oh, by the way, i took Helen out for dinner the other night, just her and me. we went to the 2nd best restaurant and the power was off the Rotary had a meeting there so that was a bummer. then the options, the hungry Lion, a takeaway chicken joint, a couple of bus terminal take away places of the restaurant at Maplehurst. yea, the best restaurant in town is on the farm, rented out to a the guy whom we bought the farm off two years ago. so that was the only option really. so off we went for romantic dinner and catch up. dave, the guy running it comes in with his wife, so the quiet time together was stuffed... that`s the way it is here, getting by yourself any where is virtually impossible.

today we have a meeting with the team all morning and another meeting after lunch with the guy who runs the restaurant. thanks for following along with us, really appreciate it and the r-mails we get.

love and sloppy kisses

Helen and kevin


moving on from Zambia, loved the bed

2007-07-23

it`s monday evening and we are totally bushed. the last few days have been meeting after meeting after meeting, like it just won`t stop! since the last update we`ve been full on from morning to evening and we`re pretty tred of it frankly. it`s been good to be at Maplehurst for almost a week, in the same bed every night for a week would almost be a record for us this year. tomorrow we head of at 6:15 to Lusaka and then off to Nairobi. anyway, we`ve met some really nice people thins week. let me tell you about some of them:

1) Dan Moyer, an amereican missionary here involved in church planting and other things. he`s very energetic and enthusiastic and it`s an encouragement to me with him

2) Coen and Suria Scholtz, an amazing couple from South Africa. they run many ministries and have also adopted 12 zambian children. they are here for life. we`re exploring if there are any opportunities to develop ministry together in the future.

3) Mark and Carmen Brubacher. they are from Nth America but are Arica missionary kids. they are taking over th eleadership of our largest project in Africa. they came for the afternoon on Sunday, it was great to meet them and start he porcess of handing over. our team here, Jerry and hayley and Brenda will be doing the details with them over the next few weeks

4) some of you will know Murray Stevenson. he turned up at the farm today by surprise from the Democratic Republic of Congo. it was good to be able to catch up with him and what`s going on up there in the "real" Africa.

the problem with this list is that it`s not typical of our partners, they are all Westerners really. one of the real frustrations here is that unless you`re out in the bush you tend to end up spending all your time with people of your own background, such a shame cause Bright hope is really about partnering with the poor.

It was cool today to be able to organise funds for a couple of very vulnerable families in the Eastern Province of zambia. i told you about them in earlier blogs i think. so that`s cool. it`s also cooo th hear that the micro-financing partnerships are doing well with most people repaying their loans way before they are due. ow they have access to further funds. so that`s really cool.

it was great to see the ABs beat the Wallabies, roll on the world cup now. hopefully we`ll be in places that have access to TZV when it`s on. we`re in a bit if a dilemma about the rest of the year in terms of where we need to go. so we`ll need a fair degree of wisdom getting that right.

so, one more sleep in zambia and we`re off to see some of our other friends for a couple of days. Friday we go to Uganda and Sunday a team from the US arrives and we`ll have our hands full again.

please continue praying for us. we really value it and love hearing from you.

loads of love and kisses (from Helen of course)

Kevin and Helen


in Kampala, it`s hot here, yay

2007-07-27

hey there team, we`re in kampala after afew days in Nairobi. Nairobi was great we have such great partners there. the guys in the Mathare Valley are amazing. i just don`t know how they turn up to that place. it`s a most appalling place frankly. we met the team there and saw the beautiful children meeting in the schools, more than 1300 of the m. each one has an amazing story of abuse, fear, sickness and death... only jesus can help these people.

then we went to tala, about 70 kms outside Nairobi. RObert and Rose looked after us so well, they are amazing. we visited the school and spen till midnight talking through the issues concerning the partnership. then to kampala, it`s warm and muggy, 27 degrees they say. tomorrow we start meeting the people we came to see. then sunday evening the team from the US arrives, it`s going to be an interesting week.

so, don`t stop praying, there are heaps of kms to travel this week, lots of meetingsand lots of great people to talk t o. we`ll need all the wisdom we have i think.

Aimee and Jason Mc Gregor aho are travelling with us are doing great. they are such a help and are having lots of new experiences. we haven`t been able to get onto the internet with our computer so we haven`t downloaded e-mails for a while.

anyway, we`re hot and loving it!!

Love to you all

kevin and Helen


a week of it

2007-08-06

Hi there friends,

Man some interesting things have happened in the last week since being in touch. I can’t even remember where we were last time, oh yea, hot in Kampala.

The best way is probably to give you a run down of the days of the week and then in the next couple of days let you know a bit more about some of the people we’ve met.

Sunday 29th July – visited Katosi, a little village on the shores of Lake Victoria. It took 2 hours to get there, the last 75 minutes over pretty horrible roads. It’s raining here, every day it pours, that day was no exception so on the way out it was pretty slippery!!! Helen decided to have a day out and spent it catching up on emails and doing laundry. Kevin had to preach at the church, that was fun. Mind you, Jason and Aimee who were with Kev, and he was about to strangle the guy trying to play the keyboard, Kev thinks hes never heard a worse performance. And the thing is cranked up as loud as possible till the speakers were almost blowing out. Shame cause it spoiled some nice singing.

Late that night a team of 7 people from the US arrived. They were shattered when they wandered into the hotel at about 10:30 having come from Chicago.

Monday 30th July – we had a great day!!! One of those days you don’t forget for a long time. First thing in the morning we did an orientation with the US team, talking about life in Uganda and what to do and not to do. Then a couple of our partners came in and we went to their little village on the edge of Kampala. There we listened to their stories and heard their issues as church leaders. There are some crazy things going on in the churches here. Every day there is another scandal in the newspapers about pastors and their misdemeanours. It’s very depressing really and we are embarrassed to be called a Christian some days. But at the grass roots level, the church is very healthy. We met some of those leaders. Great, grassroots and very genuine. We then went to lunch and then for a 90 minute ride into the countryside. As we left the main road the rain persisted down ,and then van began to slide all over the wet track. What a ride, until we came to a slippery stop in the middle of the bush. Another 4WD vehicle was in front of us, part of our party, so they stopped too; no tow rope, pouring with rain, getting late, 7 bedraggled Americans and a few kiwis standing under a mango tree. Well, two people in the team were from a radio station in the US and they were due to report into the station by sat phone at 6:30. So we turned the bus around sent them home to make the call. I think they were relieved, however, Jason and Kev decided to continue on to the village to meet the people we were going to see. You would not believe the tragedy of this place. Not many years ago there were many people butchered in this area. Now, amongst the 70 families there are just 3 adult men alive, a few young people are just growing into adulthood. The people there have been so traumatised by the war and death that they have lost the capacity to live, they were drunk most of the time, hungry and ill with every disease imaginable. We met one 17 year old boy trying to bring up 10 other siblings, the mother died last year. We visited the site of mass graves, at least 20 people in one of them. It’s kind of disturbing really, wondering if someone died where you were standing, and the answer is probably yes. One woman, a lieutenant in the army, has gone back to the place where many of her comrades died and is trying assist the community to reform itself, and it is.

So we sat as the misty rain swept across the sad landscape and ate maize. We just sat and stared, thinking deep thoughts, thoughts one rarely ever has to confront where we come from. The birds sang, a further testimony to the lack of people remaining in this place. We left about dark and headed back into Kampala. Didn’t sleep well that night.

An old couple from the US, doctors here, came and shared with the US team that night, filled them in on the issues. Uganda is very backward in many ways... in the Main hospital in Kampala a baby dies every 9 minutes!!!!!

Tuesday 31st July – the bus arrived and we bumped and lurched for many hours from Kampala to Busia, on the border with Kenya. On the way we stopped at Jinja and saw the source of the Nile River, one of the Mile Rivers, the other flows out of a lake in Ethiopia, we saw that one in May. We crashed into bed early that night, every bit of our bodies saw from the jiggling we had.

Wednesday 1st August – we started out at 9 and visited three villages. First, Kubo. Here we met the pastor and a little boy who has stolen our hearts. We heard her story and his; hers a story of triumph over great odds such as demon possession, illiteracy and death to one of being a pastor in a church, and cares for orphans such as Emmanuel and Leah and his a story of pain, loss, death and orphanhood. But the little bloke could smile through the pain of a body disfigured and no pain relief. Many were in tears that morning. (somehow in the middle of helping large numbers of people you have to try and sort out a way to help one little boy. This is a huge dilemma here, how do we do it. This little guy needs long term care and help yet he lives 100s of km from a facility, probably actually 1000s of kms and 5 countries away from a facility that can help him. It’s sometimes very frustrating!)

Then we went to Bukobe, 10 minutes down the road. HIV+ people told stories of hope after receiving loans to start small businesses, of hope now that they are supported by a group of people who know their HIV status, of hope even thought they die because they have discovered life with Jesus. Pretty cool really. One guy told of a rice field he was growing and a 90minute battle with a python, he had the scars to back up the story!

Then we went to Bulende and heard the story of Margaret, pastor of the church. She is HIV+ and is caring for her own 4 kids and a bunch of other orphans. I just don’t know how she manages to do it. Her CD4 count has got quite low and she is really struggling physically, we left her money to help get another test and some better food. Again there were more than a few tears as the team encountered very desperate, very caring, very brave people battling overwhelming odds to be change agents in their communities and spiritual leaders of many others. AMAZING!

Thursday 2nd August – today we spent the day at Buhoya, a village in one the border of Kenya and Uganda where the leaders of the team we work with live. It’s a nice little place with lovely people. Gorret and Christine, the leaders of the micro-loan projects talked to the team and explained how it works. It’s truly amazing to hear how live are changed by a loan of $100. You would not believe it unless you heard the stories. Then, after lunch the team split up into 3 and moved out into the countryside on foot to visit some of the loan beneficiaries. They all came back a couple of hours later with incredible stories, stories you would not believe. Stories that will change their lives and perspective on life.

At about 4 pm the thunder clouds were threatening so we jumped onto the bus and drove for 100 meters and ran out of petrol!!! The driver ran off into the bush while Kevin fumed and kicked the water bottle until he came back with 3 litres of petrol and a big smile, almost kicked him then but thought better of it. Back onto the bus and a jolly ride back to the hotel as the rain poured down. Just in time, the road for the first 5 km is very bad and slippery.

We spent the evening reminiscing about the day and the great people we had met. The radio team met their schedule with the thunder crashing and the Moslem cry to prayer wailing in the background.

At 9 pm Anna came to visit, I’ve written about anna in previous blogs but her story beggars belief. Here is a little of it, here is a tragedy that is repeated 1000s of time in Uganda and more in other parts of Africa. This is the story of a documentary proportion, and it’s by no means over yet.

Anna is in her 40s I imagine. A very nice woman, dignified, you would never guess the story from her appearance. A number of her siblings have been killed in recent years, internal fighting. Her father, an Anglican minister was, 4 years ago, looking after a number of his grandchildren and a lot of other kids as well. From time to time the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) rebels would come and harass him. He was trying to protect his kids and the community from their raids and brutality (you need to google LRA and check the b******s out.) This day he warned them and the kids scattered in to the bush, but they grabbed her dad. They beat him and a whole bunch of other people. They called the local into a meeting and when they arrived they opened fire on the people and butchered 63 of them. They buried her dad but not the others, their bodies were eaten by animals. Meanwhile, Peninah, Anna’s sister who lived with their father and helped him with the kids, managed to find most of the children except for two. She gathered them into a refugee camp, IDP camp. The story of the two she couldn’t find is the material of a book that might be written sometime in the future! So Anna goes and finds her sister and all the kids in the IDP and makes a plea to us to help her family. So we get the kids out of the IDP camp and into a secure, rented house, 26 of them. Another agency agrees to support them in an ongoing way and do so for a couple of years. But then internal disputes within the organization means that at the end of last year they pulled the plug on funding and these vulnerable kids find themselves at the bottom of the heap again. While they were in the bush and the IDP camp they learned to fend for themselves, they learned how to cheat, steal, lie and kill to survive, now they are desperate again, what will they do. They can go back to that, or they can find another way, the way of trust, of peace of self-control. But when you are desperate.....and they are desperate. By this time Anna is struggling to go on, these are not statistics she is talking about, these are her kids, her family. Right at that very time her sister, her brother and her husband are in Lira desperately trying to find a way to deal with this issue. And here she is trying to plead for them as well. What the heck do you do? Debts to pay off, ongoing support to find and long term solutions to try and secure. I’m going to bed, but not to sleep!

Friday 3rd August - I stayed in Busia while Helen returned to Kampala with the US team. I caught up with reports and e-mails while Helen jiggled and jolted back in the bus. They detoured out to Katosi on the way, about 1 ½ hours each way to the place I had gone the previous Sunday. They had a nice lunch, they visited the clinic and the school and heard the children singing. Really loved it. These people hear are so welcoming, every guest is honoured and everyone feels loved, even though the poverty is palpable. All of us had one of the older kids pray for us.... quite moving..They got home to the hotel after 7 and then went out to a nice restaurant for a treat. Annie, one of the team wasn’t feeling well that day but seemed to be OK by the next day.

Meanwhile, back at the rand Hotel in Busia it’s all quiet, apart from loud music, obscenely loud Nigerian videos, the neighbours having a fight and the moslems yelling out at various time on loud speakers!!

Saturday 4th August – Helen gets the team off to the airport in Kampala and I eat eggs again for breakfast at the Rand hotel. She and Aimee and Jason have a bit of a rest day while I head off into to Buhoya village for a Board meeting on the back of a motorbike. Phil and Merlyn Field are there with their daughter Amanda and we spend the day with the Trustees of the team we work with sorting through things like budgets, reports, organizational structure and the like. Just as the rain starts I hop onto another bike and head back to the Rand. Great fun, except for all the puddles and the fact that the driver had no understanding about the relationship between gears, revs, puddles and everything else one needs to know if you ride a bike. The plastic raincoat that Merlyn lent me caught on a branch and I almost got hung but it split just in time to prevent us spinning off into a puddle, a couple of local guys who saw nearly died laughing and I almost choked to death in the tree. I now know why I need to be so heavy, if I was 10 kg lighter I might still be swinging in the tree.

Anyway, enough of that, we’re now back in Kampala and sorting through the e-mails and other admin stuff. The bush seems such a long way from here in bustling Kampala which teems with people. But there is much to do and lots of people to assist and learn from.

Thanks for being on the journey. A couple of days and we’re out of here back to Nairobi. Two days there and we’re on our way back to NZ.

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen


resting up in Koh Samui

2007-08-13

Hi friends

The last few days in Africa reminded us again that we have the privilege of being in partnership with some outstanding people. We arrived in Nairobi to wet, cold weather, a bit of a change from the previous 6 weeks. We went down into the slum of Mathare Valley in Nairobi to visit the incredible people who choose to go there every day because they are called to follow Jesus to that place. It’s a shocking place at any time; it’s even worse when it’s wet and cold. Honestly, I am not sure how they can do it day after day as they do. While there we met with a couple of other people from outside Kenya who are involved as donors as well. It was good to meet them and hear of their desire to try and assist Daniel and Magdaline Ogutu and their team to ramp up their efforts to transform Mathare Valley where 600,000 people live in pitiful conditions of filth and poverty.

We said goodbye to Aimee and Jason MacGregor in Nairobi, they went to stay with our friends Robert and Rose Gitau in Tala. Right now they will be tutoring kids and helping with whatever is going on. Hope they enjoy it, they will come to love Robert and Rose and the kids I’m sure. Jason and Aimee were great to travel with. Jason became the official video man and Aimee was our nurse, secretary, tour guide and everything else we needed. We had a lot of fun too, Jase played a straight bat most of the time,and sometimes he was almost undone by a googly or two and a yorker but kept his wicket intact!

We spent a bit of time with other NZ friends too. Phil and Merlyn and Amanda Field were in Uganda with us and also in Nairobi. They are now in the Masai Mara Game park viewing the huge wilderbeast migration. Then they return to Nairobi. They are in Africa doing a project for Bright Hope about micro-enterprise. It’s been so cool to travel with friends . We caught up with Peter and Anne Kemps in Nairobi too.

And where are we you ask? Well, I hate to tell you this but we’re having a break in Thailand on the way home to NZ. We reckoned we needed a break so stopped off in Koh Samui. It’s great to have time out with nothing planned, no meetings to attend and no people asking what we’re doing next! So we’re resting up and thinking about nothing at the moment. After a few days we will start to think about the rest of the year and the stuff we need to do.

So, we’ll stay in touch. Thanks for the e-mails and messages. It’s great to have you along with us on the trip.

Love

Kevin and Helen


back in NZ and freezing

2007-08-20

man it`s freezing here in NZ. i can`t believe we lived here for so long without dying. just joking but it`s a bit of a shock after 30+ degreees and sleeping with not much on for a week. it was great to have a break in Thailand on the way home from Africa. spent most of it horizontal, reading, sleeping, swimming etc. it was great and we feel really refreshed coming back here. it`s a bit different from some of the recent trips we`ve got back from.

thanks for being on the journey with us. it`s so cool to know you`re involved and praying. we`re back here till the 4th of September and then down to Levin for a few days and Christchurch for 10 days. then it`s back to Whangaparaoa.

we did have a trip planned to Asia for alter in the year but have decided to can it. There is a lot going on that we need to deal with in regards to getting Bright Hope more established so we`ll be focussing on that. early October kevin has to go to the USA for a few days but there won`t be too much rushing around going on. BHW is developing a new website which i`ll let you know about soon and we have a lot of reports to write. we are building our team too which takes time talking to people and we also have a number of donor friends in NZ that we want to visit and talk to. so hopefully we`ll get to catch


stuff to do in NZ

2007-09-02

Hey there

Thought we’d drop you a note to let you know what’s happening over the next few weeks so you can keep up with the plans and what we’ve been up to for the past two weeks since getting back to NZ. It’s been great to be back “home” and in familiar surroundings. Currently we are in the process of building a house in Whangaparaoa. It’s an extension to the beach house we’ve had for years, quite a large extension really. We sold our house in Levin almost a year ago and so did my sister and brother in law, Glenys and Murray Cooper. We decided that we would extend the beach house and turn it into our permanent homes, kind of two separate parts in the same building. So it’s been fun to be making decisions about windows and doors and garage doors and ...... it’s been a bit of a break too from all the other stuff we have to deal with. So that’s what we’ve been doing as well as writing reports and other stuff to finish off the last trip. It’s been nice to go to church again, we often miss that when we’re travelling even though we’re doing mission stuff. The 1st Sunday back we went to our local church at Orewa and yesterday we were in New Lynn in Auckland talking to a church there about partnership.

But we’re about to shift on again so we thought we let you know where and what. You can check out the itinerary elsewhere on the blog site, we’ve updated that so you can see it, tried to do the rest of the year so you can where and what we’re up to and invite us around for a coffee!!!!

Tomorrow we head off to Levin to catch up with Helen’s dad and my mum and some of our friends on the area. Next Sunday we are speaking at QSGC, our home church and we then head down to Christchurch in the evening. We`re there at the Bright Hope World offices for 10 days. We have a Board meeting, seeing off one of our team, Jude Goatley to Africa again, meeting the Suttons who are coming back to NZ and generally catching up on administration. We’ve got some people to visit too, people who have visited our partnerships and are getting involved.

So we get back to Whangaparaoa on the 19th September and carry on working from there. We’ve got a few people to visit around Auckland, Te Awamutu, Rotorua and Tauranga so will be doing a trip further south.

Then on the 8th October Kevin heads offshore again for 3 1/2 weeks. He’s got meetings in Dallas and Chicago that will take a few days, then cruises on to Zambia for two weeks. On the way he’ll stop over in London and catch up with Jared and Ruth and watch the ABs win the Rugby World Cup with them. Unfortunately we don’t have tickets to go to the Final!!!

Then Zambia. We‘ve got some issues to work through on Maplehurst Farm in terms of personnel and also a really good partnership opportunity to negotiate related to training for many of the orphans who leave school and can`t get employment. So there is some important stuff to do that really can’t wait till next year. You’ll see the dates in the itinerary that’s been updated. It’s a pain that he has to go in some ways but sometimes you just can’t leave things. Helem is not sure what she`ll do while kevin is away. but this is a hurricane warning for NZ!!!

When he gets back to NZ on ealry November we’ll have a few days in Whangaparaoa and the plan is to go to Christchurch for 3 – 4 weeks. Bright Hope World is developing a new website so it will be a good time to get it all sorted and fully functioning. It will be great cause it will mean that we can use it from anywhere in the world to keep all the partnerships up to date, a little bit like this blog site.

Sometime in there we’ll be shifting into the new house. We have all our stuff stored in Levin still so we’ll have to pack up a truckload of stuff and bring it North. That will be fun, not!!!!

Anyway, we’ll keep in touch, we really value you r prayer and e-mails and love

Kevin and Helen


meetings in Chch / checking in

2007-09-21

Hi there

We have been in Christchurch for 9 days based at our Bright Hope World office. There we had a Board and Executive meeting, as well as looking at the new website that is being developed… looks good. We’ll give you the address when it’s finished and on line, should be in a month or so. Had heaps of appointments, and updating details from our recent trips and working through finances…Has kept us out of mischief.

 

It was great to spend one evening with some of the people who had recently returned from a short term trip to Zambia. They stayed in a village for 6 days and it was interesting hearing about some of their experiences. Like their first meal was rice…. With nothing else…( some of .their other meals did  include  veggies and  chicken). They were so inspired by the hospitality, and loved the opportunity to form relationships with some of the local people …… and they were so thankful to all stay well…..

 

One morning we spent time with Emma Stokes who co-ordinates the HeadSpace Gap year programme for Students who finish High School and don’t know what they want to do next. Emma is an amazing lady who is passionate about helping and inspiring young people to grow their faith. The Gap year also gives them an opportunity to live cross culturally for 2 -3 months. So if any of you have kids or grandkids who don’t know what to do when they finish high-school. They would benefit from this life changing year

.

Brad and Greer Sutton who were our Farm Managers at Maplehurst farm in Kabwe, Zambia, have returned to NZ. So we have also been trying to find someone to replace them. We have interviewed two couples but they wouldn’t be available to go until early next year if we accept one of them. So we need someone NOW to fill the gap until mid January. Please pray for Jerry and Hayley and Aaron and Suzy, our friends there who are filling the gaps with no farming experience, and doing a fantastic job.

 

We are now back in Auckland and we are house sitting for someone for a week. Looking forward to spending time with our daughter, Sara . We haven’t seen her much since we returned from our last trip to Africa.

 

On Monday Kev will fly to Australia and be away for 4 days. He is interviewing another couple  about  going to Maplehurst. Then its back to his beloved wife…..  then it’s another road trip from Friday 29th.  We will spend Friday afternoon and evening with another team from Te Awamutu that’s going to Chipata, Zambia in January.

Then we will go to Tauranga and there is a Missions dinner on Saturday with our friends at Greerton Church.. On Sunday we will spend time with the Noble Family in Rotorua…… then back to Auckland

.

Kevin will be going to Dallas in USA on 8th October, then on to meetings in Chicago, on to London to see Jared and Ruth and meetings with people, then back to Zambia for 12 days.

Helen will stay in NZ L She will spend some time in Levin with family and friends, and also do some work on making decisions for  kitchen, bathroom, flooring etc for our new house…

We appreciate your ongoing love and prayer support And emails and blog messages.. check out the blog for the map and itinerary

Love from

Helen and Kev     

 


still on the road

2007-10-07

Hi there friends,

Hope you’re all doing OK. Just a brief update before I (Kevin) heads off to the US and Helen heads off down to Levin. We’ve had a great time over the last week or so visiting friends and talking about Bright Hope World stuff. There are so many generous people in our network and we are so blessed.

In Te Awamutu we talked to our friend Chris Graham and some of his missions team about partnership issues. We then met with a team of 10 going to Zambia in December / January. It was great to catch up with Chris and Judy, we haven’t really ever spent much time with them.

Then it was over to Tauranga. We met with our friends from Greerton Bible Church and chatted about the partnership they have going in Chipata, Zambia. It’s great to see their commitment to their partners there and in other places.

Then Sunday morning it was over to Rotorua to meet with the Noble family, they came to Asia and India with us earlier this year. The whole family was home for Allies birthday so it was great to catch them all. Then it was to church with them at Third Place to talk about missions and partnership again. It was great to hear about their journey to the world and involvement with people. Good to also hear about the plans for the development of the cafe church.

Then back to Auckland to spend some time with Sara and her man, Karl. It was nice to meet him at last after weeks of Sara blabbing on about the amazing guy she had met. He seems like a really good guy.  Then back to Whangaparaoa and working on reports and plans for the future.

Oh, I forgot to mention the trip to Tasmania. I had a great time there with Dave Pearson, the Bright Hope dude in Australia. We visited a church leader thinking about missions and a guy who is setting up a large international business to fund missions. Then we visited a couple looking at working with us in Zambia on Maplehurst Farm. Oh, there were a couple small group meetings to talk to as well so they kept me pretty busy. But it’s looking quite positive about the family coming to Zambia. It’s really interesting how God closes doors and opens up new ones. It’s not always that easy to know what’s going  on all the time but the journey of faith is pretty interesting, that’s what we find anyway.

Anyway, tonight Kevin’s off to the US for 10 days and then on to the UK. I was supposed to be staying with Jared and Ruthie in London but they have had to make a quick trip to NZ and I’ll miss them. so Helen will see them and I won’t. Shame. I’m trying to get to Zambia a couple days earlier but with the Rugby World Cup on and South Africa looking good the flights to Johannesburg are pretty full. Oh, about the RWC and the ABs. So we’ll see what happens.

I’m (Kevin) is looking forward to the meetings in Dallas with our Ethiopian partners and the church that’s involved in assisting them. We will be working through a training programme for church planters and other components of the partnership. Once we have decided the plan for training we will then establish details and if and how the US church can be involved.  We have a guy from Ethiopia coming, an Ethiopian who is studying in the US and our key man who lives in New Zealand as well as reps from Chase Oaks Church. So it will be fun. Then off to Chicago to talk to the Bright Hope office in Chicago and talks with Willow Creek Community Church.

Helen is planning to spend a night in Auckland (Tuesday 9th) with Sara and then catch Jared and Ruth in Auckland the same day. Then it’s down to the Waikato for a couple of nights before hitting Levin. She’ll be catching up with friends there and organising for our household stuff to go North some time.

So we’re heading out again and will be apart for 4 weeks. It’s too long really and we don’t like being apart for more than 3 weeks. So it’s a bit of a pain really.

Blessings and thanks to you all

Love

Kevin and Helen.


half way home!

2007-10-19

hey there everyone

sorry for the delay since the last blog. it`s almost two weeks and it`s flown by. As i write (Kevin,) Helen is asleep in Hamilton, NZ, and i`m in London trying to catch up on emails and partnership writeups. it`s a busy time with partnerships. all the education partnerships need to be revisited and payment schedules reworked for the coming year. so i`m sitting here in Jared and ruth`s (son and daughter in law`s) flat trying to concentrate. Helen was glad to be able to see J and R and i`m pretty gutted at missing them. tonight Evan and Jo Cooper (nephew and wife) are coming around and we`ll have dinner and chat about the possibility of them coming to Africa on our next trip early next year. be nice to see them. we`ll probably try and go off to the city on saturday and check out a couple of tourist things like St. pauls catherdral or something.

anyway, helen is still asleep, it`s 4:11 am in NZ at the moment. unless she is awake thinking of me!!! no chance, just joking!! anyway, Helen has been in Levin and has visited half the population of the district by the sound of her reports to me. she`s had fun though and caught up with lots of friends. the worst part of this job is the fact we don`t have time to keep up friendships. she gets back to Orkland after the weekend and next week sees Jared and Ruth again as they fly back to England. England, who of course will not be holders of the Rugby World Cup in a couple of days! i`ll be watching the blimmin thing here by myself, daren`t go outside and let anyone know i`m a kiwi. the mocking would be too hard to bear!

since last report i`ve had great meetings in Dallas. some freinds from Ethiopia came to visit us there for meetings about training people in the future. the church in Dallas is deciding how much to put into the partnership, it shoujld be around $US100,000 per year so that`s going to be great. we talked about training, support of key community leaders, support of a couple of churches who are supporting vulnerable street people, another trip to Ethiopia in April next year and a whole raft of other things. it was great to be with people who are so passionate about being involved with God and what He is doing in the world. we made an appearance at 4 church serivces as well, the church has a Friday night service and three on sunday.

then it was off to Chicago. spent the time talking to the team there about the projects they support, met with Willow Creek leaders and talked about their partnership in zambia and met with one partners from India who was in town. so it was pretty full on. also met some of the people who travelled with  us in Uganda earlier in the year. visited heaps of restaurants too, man the US meals are huge! 

so i`m almost half way home again, from Sunday i get closer to home with every flight, not further away. it`s a good feeling, but there`s still a long way to go and two weeks to negotiate. we appreciate the messages and emails, thanks for you friendship and interest and prayers.

love and hugs and thanks

kevin and Helen


"No problem" people

2007-10-27

Muli shani mukwai or in kiwi, gidday,Hope you’re all doing OK? One week to go, this time next week I’ll be on the plane on the way back NZ. Yay. Mind you, I’m having a great time here in Zambia with the Maplehurst Farm team and a whole bunch of other people we work with. I’ll stick some photos onto the blog tomorrow so you can see what I’m up to.Jared and Ruth were in NZ for two weeks and Helen really just got to spend a day with them. But they are back in England now. England who didn’t win the Rugby World Cup like I said last time, mind you we can hardly talk!!!!! Helen travelled back from Levin and stayed with friends on the way north. She’s working hard on the house, stripping wallpaper last I heard.I’m in Kabwe, Zambia in the hot season, however, the first rains came two nights ago and it’s come down from 38 degrees Celsius it reached on Wednesday!!! It’s still warm enough to swim in the pool though. After the last blog I had dinner with Evan and Jo Cooper (nephew and wife) and then on the Saturday afternoon met them at the Tower of London. Had a lovely afternoon going around the place, it was great fun. We then grabbed some chicken and watched the Boks beat the Poms. If that’s Rugby World Cup standard then I’m glad the ABs didn’t get there frankly. I think I’m going to become a fan of table tennis from now on, about as much action! Either team should be embarrassed to have the Cup. But the tour of the Tower of London was great, so much to see and hear about, names from school history and tales of intrigue and deceit. Politics hasn’t changed much anywhere, anytime!Then Sunday night flew to Johannesburg 11 hours and 7 hours wait in the airport and then 2 hours to Lusaka, Zambia. Jerry and Hayley Field picked me up and drove north to Kabwe, got there about 8 that night. 7:30 next morning we were into meetings with the team. We had to chat about stuff before I started other meetings at 8:30. We had to cram the meetings into the first 2 days I was here cause the people I was talking too had to leave on Wednesday to fly south. So it was a busy three days, meetings for the first two and then a whole day to write it all up. We’re discussing the establishment of a training college for missionaries, teachers and skills training on the farm. So it was important to get a lot of the stuff right and come to some understandings. There are still plenty of issues to continue dialogue about but I think we’ve got some good understandings worked out.It’s great to work with people who want to expand God’s kingdom and who will work hard to achieve good outcomes. The team here is amazing, just great to work with as well as the people we are talking to about the Joint Venture. They are all “no problem” people. Their first response is to say “how can we make this work so God’s reputation is enhanced.” They are a great encouragement to me.Today, Saturday, we had a couple at the farm; they are staying for a couple of nights. They live in Samfya, you will have heard me talk about Samfya in earlier blogs. Mark and Carmen live in this really rural town with few white people and few amenities, and just love it. They are from Canada and the US, leading our largest partnership. They have such a great attitude and ability to lead the ministry and relate to the local people. We spent a lot of time in the swimming pool this afternoon discussing policy!It’s great to be in this environment, I was so far behind in other work and I’m getting the point of catching up. That is a rare event. There are many issues still to work on but I’m getting there. Tomorrow we have a guy coming from one of our partnerships, Gershom Kasongo, he’ll be travelling about 800 kms to get here to discuss the details of the partnership he leads. It’s a commercial farm of about 300 hectares, an orphan care programme for 180 orphans and vulnerable kids and oversees more than 20 churches he has established. Quite an amazing guy really. Another “no problem” person, able to give his life for others and leave a mark on history like few people I have met. We have quite few meetings the coming week to sort through the future of Maplehurst Farm. Two families are planning to come this way from NZ and Australia so it’s working on what that looks like. A NZ family left the farm a couple of months ago and we’re covering for them without a farmer so that requires some input, the Joint Venture with the training college needs more discussion and there are numerous plans to be made. On Wednesday I may do a day trip to Ndola, 200 kms north from here, to sort out the commencement of a new partnership. So it will be a full week and we continue to value your prayer and interest.Meanwhile Helen holds the home fort and tries to stay warm! I’m not going to enjoy returning to the cooler climate in a week. But it will be great to be home and family and friends.Love to you all and thanks for the prayers, notes and e-mails.Kevin and Helen(your Bright Hope World buddies)


heading home and meetinged out

2007-11-02

hey there friends

hope you`re doing OK where you are today. the last week has been pretty full on with meetings, most of them very positive. it has been great to work through some issues and be able to take out partnership with Pro Christo to another level of understanding. in a few days we will be making an offer to them to come out and build a training campus on Maplehurst Farm. this will mean we are able to share resources and costs and also achieve our Maplehurst Farm goal of training people to become self sufficient. the team at the farm are pretty keen for this to go ahead and before the end of theyear we should have some building started.

my days have been made up of meeting people, writing reports and swimming in the pool. it`s been awesome as the temperature has been in the mid to high 30s. C most days. despite the little temp gauge on the left of this screen that  has been saying 29 C, it`s been much warmer than that.

i`ve been able to talk to a Zambian partner who live about 850 kms away about his leadership of a group that cares for 180 orphans as well as overseeing a 300 ha farm, overseeing more than 20 churches, set up and run a shop and cultivates 5 ha of his own land. the guy is a robot, a very effective one. i am totally blown away my Gershom`s faith and energy.

then there is a Nth American couple who work with us is a rural town about 450 km away. they are overseeing a partnership with 1,050 orphans, 120+ HIV+ people, almost 1,000 families with food supplements and a large group of people doing micro-enterprise gardens. it was great to spend the weekend with mark and Carmen and see how they are enjoying the adventure of faith and transforming a community.

then a NZ couple today, bringing up 3 kids in Zambia, actually she is a South African so there have been a few scoffing remarks passed in the last couple of weeks. anyway, rugby aside, they are taking Zambian people into neighbouring African countries and helping them be effective in ministry there and to help with the training of leaders. great to see sam and gabby on the faith adventure too with their family.

i could go on but will finish with a story from Thursday. i went with Jude Goatley, Suzy Boddy and Hayley Field to visit a couple of community schools in the two compounds in Kabwe. the first school was in a very poor area. we drove through endless streets and markets, teeming with people. you don`t really experience Africa until you go into the compounds, they are difficult, sometimes dangerous places. but the place is swarming with kids, most of whom don`t go to school. one of our partners, Suria Sholtz from Pro Christo has been given two schools to run and develop, both schools based in or beside church buildings. you`ll see 3 new photos taken at the school. it was break time when we arrived, actually, there are often break times at community schools, there is usually not enough money to pay the teachers very much so they go home before midday so they can do another job to get enough to eat. it was lovely to hear the kids playing and shouting, learning and singing, but my heart was overwhelmed by the lack: two toilets about 50 meters away without roofs, kids sitting on the floors, no books to learn from, little food in hungry tummies and eyes full of hope. the human spirit is an amazing thing in the eyes of a bunch of little children. if only they knew the pain and terror that awaited them in teenage and adult life in this part of the world. if only they could know the grace and love of God in a graceless and loveless culture.... at least these kids will have that opportunity. to doscover a realtionship with jesus in these little schools.. i was glad we went to school yesterday. it reminded me that all the separation is worth it to bring hope to a little child, that all the meetings are worth it if one kid gets opportunity to walk with God, and all the reports (this is pushing it) are worth it if one family is transformed by the Spirit of God.

so i get on the planes tomorrow to come back to NZ. two hours to Jo`burg and a 4 hour wait, 9 hours plus a bit to Perth and a 6 hour wait and the 7 hours to Auckland and Helen.

she has been busy working on the finishing stages of our house renovation / buidling. choosing colours, placing lights and kitchen and bathroom stuff. it will be nice to have our own place soon to come back to. it`s been a long year with no fixed abode. thanks to everyone who has given us a bed or a meal, thanks for being part of our team. thanks to those who support us financially. thanks to those who suport Bright Hope World and other groups that care for the poor. you are doing God`s work, be blessed.

we`ll catch you soon hopefully

love from Helen and Kevin


catching up

2007-11-27

Hi there friends from Christchurch, New Zealand.

It`s been a while since we were in touch, sorry for that! That`s what they would say in Africa. Helen and I are doing OK, hanging out in the South. One day it`s 30 degrees, the next (today) it`s less than 1/2 that. Oh well, rock on summer.

After getting back to NZ we spent a week catching up and sorting out some stuff for the house. We`re working towards having our renovations done so we can be in by Christmas. So we were looking at lights, tiles and other finishing stuff. Of course  Helen was working hard at this while I was away.

We then came down to Christchurch via Nelson, to work on our partnerships. We`re working on a new website as we`ve said before. We have had to troll through all our partnerships to write them up. It`s tedious in some ways, but it has been a great exercise. I am reminded again of the huge quality of the people we are working with. It`s been  great to read all the reports again and hear the stories of life change, just because we got involved. You are a huge part of that too and we want to thank you for the way you support, give and write to us. We have such an awesome team here in NZ too.

In terms of what`s happening out there in the Bright Hope World we have been working on a few really great opportunities. The Farm at Maplehurst is doing really well. A new family is leaving to head off there early December and we`ve been working with them to make sure they get there OK and prepared. We have a fantastic partnership developing there with Pro Christo shifting out onto the property to develop a new training campus.

In Myanmar we have been struggling to get underway with the problems that have been going on there. But we`re hoping to get underway soon. Our Ethiopia partnership is developing really well. The church in the USA is fantastic and are so very generous. You`ll hear more about that in the next year.

All in all we are really encouraged by the way this year has gone. It`s been really tiring but really fulfilling. While here in Chch we`re planning next year as well. Look like we`ll be off for three more trips, but starting a little earlier in the year. Next time we do a blog we`ll give you a bit of plan.

It was great on Saturday night to go to Christmas in the Park here in Chch. Then Sunday we were at the Riccarton Community Church (RCC) Missions Sunday. I did the speaking, the rest of the programme was great. After it we had a market with heaps of crafts from all around the world. We sold heaps of stuff. There is a lot left too so we`ll work away at clearing the rest of that. But it was great to hear the stories of what`s going on in the world. They had reports of a team just back from India. RCC have got the most fantastic Missions programme and support a lot of indigenous workers. They had another trip in Zambia with us to earlier in the year.

So we`ve got a couple of weeks back here and then back to Whangaparaoa. So we`ll wish you a Merry Christmas but will be in toiuch again before then. We`re planning to be in Whanga for Christmas and hope that we get the chance to see some of you.

Love and Merry Christmas

Kevin and Helen

 p.s. I`ve thrown a few pictures at you, some highlights from the year. Enjoy

 


time to go again

2008-01-23

hi there friends

Happy New Year. Well it`s getting a bit old by now. We`re really rapt cause we`re into our new house and we`re finding things in the boxes and suitcases we don`t even remember owning! even the suitcase are yielding things we lost in May in india! helen has a permanent smile on her face, of course related to the fact that she`s been married to me for 34 years!

we`ve booked our tickets for the first trip of the year and it`s been updated here for you. feel free to join up along the way and share the journey. if you can`t do that, then pray like crazy cause there`s plenty that can go wrong! Click on the my maps thingy and you`ll see the itinerary.

we love having you on the trip, in fact, unless you`re with us it`s going to be impossible. on the three trips this year we expect to visit almost all our partners, so that will be amazing. we`ll keep you up with the play as we go along.

Love to you all

Helen and Kevin


last week countdown

2008-02-27

Hey there friends

We’re thinking about the things we have to do in the next 6 days before we head off to write another chapter in the eternal blog of missions. We’re in Levin at the moment for a few days, came down yesterday, staying at Kevin’s mum’s place. Main reason for being in Levin is for Helen’s dad’s 80 b/day party on Sunday afternoon. His kids and grandkids are coming from all over NZ and Australia to see him and celebrate his anniversary. We visited him today at the rest home where he lives. It’s 10 years since Helen’s mum died so we took some flowers. It will be great to catch up with Helen’s family, we don’t get together a lot; well there are 8 of them! And then the grandchildren.... the party will be fun and then we’re going to Jenny (Helen’s eldest sister) and Ron’s for Sunday evening. Monday we head back to Auckland and then Wednesday we head off. Check out the itinerary on the blog, I changed the map yesterday. It’s going to be a pretty interesting trip with some great people to see. Bright Hope has a new website you can check out now. About 30 of the 100+ partnerships have been written up, Kevin’s job, so he’s going to have to keep busy with finishing that one. Check out the website at www.brighthopeworld.com  Since the last entry we’ve had a few things going on. Mainly we’ve been doing the grounds on the house so we can go away and forget about it. It’s looking great. We’ve had a heap of meetings with people in NZ including a couple of churches and another organization we’re doing some work with. And, the highlight of the year so far has been Sara getting engaged. Check out the photos, there is a picture of her and Karl there. The wedding is probably going to be in November. I don’t know how they will work that one out, especially the guest list as they both have lots of friends and .... you know how it goes. As we travel we’ll keep you updated with the things that happen and the people and partners we meet. On this trip is we don’t have heaps of people joining us. Last year was crazy and though we loved it, it does take a fair bit of energy. Helen will have fewer people to look after so will be writing more reports of people we meet. That will be a good thing .We’ll have Evan and Jo Cooper, he’s my nephew, joining us for some of the time in Zambia and the time in Ethiopia. It will be great to have them with us. Then when we get to Ethiopia we’ll have a team from the US there for a week as well, so that will be fun. Most of them were there last year too and the relationship between their church and our friends in Ethiopia is developing well. We’re looking forward to going to Nepal; it will be the first time for us to go to the land of Sir Ed. Looking forward to meeting our partners there for the first time and developing the work they are doing. Anyway, it’s time to put on your seat belts and buckle in for another adventure. I’m sure there will be some dramas on this trip, but we are going with a great God and you guys on the team, so that’s fantastic. Enjoy the ride and meeting our friends. Oh and Helen would like you to pray that our bags will arrive with us at every airport...... In 2006 one bag didn’t  arrive with us when we flew from Dubai to Johannesburg...... actually it never turned at all!!!! And we’re doing that same flight again this year.. When we get to Zambia and then to Ethiopia and India we`ll get a new sim card and put the number on the blog so you can contact us if necessary. Love Kevin and Helen. 


Back in Africa

2008-03-13

Sweltering in MaputoI’ll never complain about the heat in NZ again, ever! Maputo, rundown with a certain charm, sultry and sweaty. We’re staying with friends Patrick and Grace Mulenga in the place they now call home. They are Zambians but have been living in Maputo for 14 years. It great to see what they are doing and the impact they are having in the lives of many people. But, before we tell that story an update of the last few days.

We left NZ on Wednesday and survived the transit in Melbourne and the 13 hour flight to Dubai. We wiled away the hours playing Sudoku, watching a few movies and sleeping, for about 7-8 hours, it was great. Then we hit Dubai. It’s so overloaded now it’s only just coping, people everywhere, lying on the floors, filling every seat. The toilets had waiting lines for ever so it wasn’t that pleasant. So a 4 hour stop over was average. Then the 8 hours to Johannesburg. It was a great plane and we had great seats on the ext row, two of us in 3 seats so that helped. Each seat has it’s own powerplug so I was able to work virtually the whole time. It was great to empty out the in box and sort stuff out.

We arrived in Jo’burg about 4:30, not the best time as the traffic was pretty bad. Fortunately we got to immigration before a couple of other planes. We only had to wait about 20 minutes to get through and our bags had just got there as we got through. But behind us, there must have been a thousand people waiting to get through immigration!!Jo’burg was nice, and wet. Each night there was a huge thunderstorm and the rain bucketed down. It was nice to catch up with our friends Dave and Greta Dunn. They are so generous and kind. Dave was feeling crook and was home on the couch Friday and Saturday so the Super 14 got a bit of a workout. It was bizarre to wake up on the first morning and turn on the TV, there was the NZ / England cricket test highlights and the Hurricanes playing the Chiefs. Dave and Greta and their daughter Nicole and husband Darryl are good fun and we laughed and took the mickey out of each other a lot of the time.

Saturday we visited one of our partners outside Jo’burg near the town of Springs. Sipho and Fredah Msimango have been starting a new church in the township of Slovo and we have been assisting them for a few years. It was the first time we’d met them, it was so cool. We sat in their little two roomed house, the lounge was their bedroom and talked about the issues they face trying to help their people. They talked about unemployment and poverty, the impact HIV / AIDS on families and children, the huge numbers of orphans and the problems they face and they also talked about the change that Jesus was making in the place and the lives of those they were working with. It was amazing, lives changed and families transformed by the power of the Good News about Jesus. It was humbling to be there and to chat about how we can grow the partnership.

We spent a bit of time in a bit of a stupor as we recovered from jetlag and tried not to sleep during the day. Slept well the first night but the other two in Jo’burg were pretty disastrous in terms of sleep. But, we’re catching up now, even though it about 28 degrees here over night.So yesterday we flew to Maputo, just an hour from Johannesburg. Well, that’s the plan anyway. We were still sitting on the ground at the time we should have arrived. There was no pressure in the fuel pumps so they couldn’t put fuel into the plane, any plane in the airport. So we stat and sat and were entertained by the crazy pilot. A few people were pretty upset but it wasn’t too bad. Walking out of the plane in Maputo almost knocked you over with the heat, 35o C. We trudged to the immigration and paid our $20 each for a visa and then waited for more than an hour while the visas were approved, no hassles, just had to hang around. Fortunately our fiend Patrick came through and found us so at least he knew we had landed. We had a bit of a tour of downtown Maputo on the way to Patrick and Grace’s place, it must have been an amazing place years ago, it seems to be rising from the ashes again. We spent the evening hearing stories of the work here and asking lots of questions.

It got quite cool last night, about 25o so we really suffered!!! under the fan. There’s no aircon here so the fan is pretty welcome. The next morning we went down to the place where the project is operating. We met some of the helpers, volunteer school teachers, the 3 cooks, 25 volunteer care givers and all the kids. They run a school and crèche for almost 100 children and more the 100 more are sent to local schools. The kids are fed twice a day so it’s quite a mission. While the school is going on they are selling water, dispensing drugs, counselling HIV+ patients, interviewing potential students praying for people, taking the sick to the clinic.... it just went on and on. It’s pretty cool to see the team working so well and so committed to the cause.

We also saw the sewing machines we bought a few years ago and met some of the people who use them. Quite a few have been trained and have their own businesses, the programme isn’t running at the moment, it will start again later in the year. if you go to the website in a few days you’ll see the story of Benilda in the report for MOZ01 Kutwanana Orphan Care. We then spent the afternoon talking to people and writing stuff up and taking pictures. In the evening we spent time talking to the family again.

Shula, their daughter flew in from South Africa and we spent quite a bit of time chatting to here. She’s a really nice girl, 23 years old and just finishing a degree in development from a South African University by correspondence. She runs the school and passionately loves the children. She’s one to watch for the future. The next morning we checked out the chicken and garden project and finished our talks about the plans for the future, then headed off to the airport.

We had uneventful flights to Jo’burg and Lusaka and met with Evan and Jo Cooper who will be with us for the Africa leg of the trip. It was great to see them and catch up, Ev is our nephew. We sorted out luggage, got some tickets for the bus to Livingstone, had an Indian meal for dinner and hit the sack. We got up at 5:00 am and put Ev and Jo on the bus, we’ll see them in a few days at Maplehurst Farm. So here we are in Zambia again. Petrol has gone up, the power supply is worse and there have been riots at one of the Chinese owned mines, but it’s lovely to be here.

Later today we head up to the farm and catch up with the team there.We’ll be writing up projects and reports and you can see them on the Bright Hope World website. You can check that out any time you want at www.brighthopeworld.com . It has just been launched and has about 35 of the 100+ partnerships and projects we are involved in. You’ll see it develop over the next months. Hope you enjoy it, check out the La Mai coffee, it’s great and the story is even better.In the meantime, you have a great day.

Thanks for taking to the time to journey with us, bless you.

Kevin and Helen


Easter on the Copperbelt

2008-03-25

It’s been a while since we chatted. Hope you’re doing OK?

The past week has been full of adventures as we travelled around our Bright Hope World partnerships on the Copperbelt of Zambia. Here is a list of the partnerships we visited over Easter and a little info we discovered about them.

GLO ZAMBIA, the place we started way back in the early 80s. They accepted students this year from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. Because of  the problems in Kenya at the start of the year  it meant that the Kenyan ones didn’t come, and only 3 of the 7 Ugandan ones came. So now they only have 11 students!

ISUBILO, a Home Based care programme based in one of the poorer areas of Ndola. Great to see the team there working really hard caring for the poor and vulnerable. Good to visit the garden plots of those living with HIV. Some of them are able to make $USUS300 per month from their gardens. We talked about how we can more effectively help in this partnership. If you go to the website from time to time you’ll see this develop over the next year

PATIENCE, a new partnership outside Ndola. We met the children cared for by the  Kaniki Baptist church. The key woman is very ill and others have had to step in to take the burden. One family we met has 8 living children and they all stay in a house 3 metres by 3 metres square.Only one of the kids goes to school, they are all school age! Their 12 year old daughter has never been to school, can’t read or write.

KALULUSHI : Oliver and Emely Mulenga. 50 kids in one p/ship being fed and tutored every Saturday morning and some lovely children.  We also met  three of the ladies who received a loan to grow and sell chickens. Their $US1,500 has been converted into double that ,and in a few months they will start repaying it.

We reshaped another aspect of the p/ship and have decided to cease running a shop and a grinding mill as they were losing money. We also planned to start another programme before the end of the year with more than 50 kids in a new place and 32 in another.

The needs in Zambia have shocked us again. I cannot believe the inhumanity that is destroying these families. Often family members are creating more poverty and vulnerability by their greed.

We discovered this again the next day in LULAMBA, a suburb of Chingola. The uncle of 2 lovely little girls is trying to get the house that their father left to the girls when he died some 10 years ago. Meanwhile, the school fees of these kids have not been paid and one needs an operation on her eyes and there is no money. They are being cared for by another aunty who has her own kids and no resources to really help them. But the children came together to the house of Elizabeth and our team played games with them and made friends. Later we prayed for them all as they went home.

The next day we visited KAMATIPA. There are some pix of the road we floated through to get in and out. We met the family who leads the work and many of the kids that are supported. They are such a nice bunch of kids. The team with us played games and heard the story of life in the village. We interviewed some of the kids and a new person who has joined the team.

Next day, Easter Sunday we spent sitting in the van. We drove 5 hours there and 5 hours back on some of the worst roads in Zambia. It was pretty bad. But we met some lovely people at the village of CHISASA in the North Western Province of Zambia. 250 people, mainly young gathered under the beautiful trees. Their singing was incredible, their welcome extraordinary. It’s such a privilege to work with such great people. Kamplembi told us his story and the journey they have been on. Another agency had given them a grinding mill and 12 pigs, and roofing iron to help them fund the orphans and the skills training centre with 21 students. But they didn’t follow all the protocols and now the chief has confiscated it all and taken it for himself. Kampelembi was in tears as he told us the story. He was also in tears as he introduced us to a set of 7 month old twins whose mother had died the week before. Life is very tough out here.

On Easter Monday we visited a team in the city of CHINGOLA who have hundreds of kids signed up  and are only using  their own meagre funds to help. We could help another 200+ kids for around $US100 per child per year each. It`s pretty sobering to realise that the local Chimpanzee rescue programme up the road finds $US30,000 per month!!!

So we came home last night and have a few days here before we head off to Ethiopia. It has been a different Easter for us, no camp to attend or sermons to preach. But a very interesting one, meeting hundreds of poor and vulnerable people  whom Jesus died for.

Hope your Easter was as inspiring and challenging as ours and that you are doing OK. Check out the Bright Hope website and some of the partnerships we’ve written about here www.brighthopeworld.com

We really appreciate your prayers and emails , and messages on our blog.

Love

Kevin and Helen

 


Gonder, North Ethiopia

2008-04-05

hi there friends

just a brief note before the power goes off. we`re doing OK in the North of Ethiopia. I`ve been kissed by dozens of widows over the last couple of days but it`s OK, helen has been too. the plight of the widows here is apalling, it`s a privilege to be able to help them a little.

We`ve travelled many Kms and seen many things, but constantly we are blown away by the love the local christians show to the people around them who persecute them

but, this is just a short note, after the weekend we`ll send a little more detail.

love to you all

kevin and Helen.


Amazing people in the north of Ethiopia

2008-04-08

Hey there friends

Hopefully this will get out to you some time in the next couple of days. I’m writing this on Tuesday 8th in Gonder, North Ethiopia. It was an early morning, out to the airport at 6:00 am and back to the hotel at 7:30. Supposed to be seeing the US team off, but the plane was cancelled, again!!!  They were supposed to go yesterday and by now should have been in Germany waiting for a plane to Dallas.  But, that was cancelled and they stayed the night in a flash hotel. We stayed at the Embassy, stinkiest bathrooms in Ethiopia. Mind you, every hotel has stinky bathrooms. We’ve shifted from a number of rooms from very stinky into stinky, but by the morning they are very stinky again! It has nothing to do with Helen or me; it’s just the way it is!!! TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since last blog written in Zambia we’ve had a really interesting time. I’ll make a list of things we’ve done, places we’ve been and people we’ve met.

Before leaving Zambia we made a really big decision about the farm in Zambia. We’ve decided to stop making cheese and concentrate on milk production. It’s going to make for quite a lot of work for the team there as they change over. We developed a plan to do that while we were there.

We’ve since heard that a NZ family living in Australia will be going to the farm later in the year.When we were in  Zambia we discovered about 10 new partnership opportunities. The opportunities are amazing. We are developing a couple of partnerships in the Kabwe area based around a couple of community schools.

We then went off to Ethiopia, a 4 hour flight from Zambia. We arrived late in the evening and went off to the magnificent Baro Hotel,, truly one to miss. We managed to hang out there for three nights but we could not imagine our US friends coping with it so we shifted to the Taitu, up the hill. It was  once a beautiful building. It still has a sort of musty charm. The parquet floors move and creak under your feet ,as you clatter through the main entrance. But it was comfortable. It was nice to have a bath after almost two days without water!

The team from USA  arrived OK, despite the fact that they had to pay $US110 to bring a video camera into the country and they had to spend all the next day getting it  back from custody. They had to pay $US10 cents storage as well!!!!

While in Addis we went to church in a poor area of town and although it was all in Amharic it was great to be with about 350 Christians. Sheeesh they can sing.

We spent the day after the team arrived doing orientation and visited the little office that has been set up to manage the partnership here.Then on to Bahir dar on Tuesday the 2nd. We arrived in Bahir Dar and got into our rooms and had breakfast. It’s just a beautiful place, overlooking Lake Tana. While in Bahir Dar we visited a bunch of 50 missionaries who are in training. They are about to go off into very difficult places to start new churches and to transform their communities. It was amazing to hear their stories. Some of them are giving up great jobs to do this, it is very inspiring. We interviewed a number of them and also took their photos.

Then we went off to visit a private school established by a local doctor. We’re researching the possibility of starting a private school as an income generator and to help the local community in Gonder. It was great to see a school of such high quality, we haven’t seen   many others better anywhere in Africa.

Then that evening we met a group of church leaders and heard their stories. They are really struggling with the persecution they get for their faith, but at the same time they are very positive about the changes that are going on.

Early on Wed morning, like it was supposed to be 7:30 am but it was an hour later after major arguments with the bus driver, we headed off to Debre Markos, 5 hours south. The trip was great with a stopover in a little village for a cup of coffee. The great thing about Ethiopia is the toilets (NOT) the coffee and it’s always strong and beautiful. Though, as we sit here waiting for news about a plane coming to take the US team away, we’ve had 3 coffees and no food and the old tummy is feeling a little squeamish. 

Anyway, we got to Debre Markos about 1:30 and grabbed some lunch. Then we were off to visit some street widows that BHW are supports. There are 25 in the project and 10 of them are church members. These are the ones we met. We then went to the local government offices to visit some of the 15 vulnerable from the community that are being supported. The officials wouldn’t see us because they don’t want to be seen to be supporting the work that the churches are doing.So we talked to a few of them and it was pretty hard to see such poverty. These are the poorest of the poor and so weak and poor that they cannot do anything, they can hardly walk and stand.

After that we talked to the church leaders and heard more stories. We were pretty weary by then and after a ride in a tuk tuk back to the hotel we ate dinner in the dark as the power was off. Evan and Jo Cooper have been travelling with us all this time and it’s been great to have them around. It’s been great to get to know them better and to help us with stuff. Jo has been typing reports like a Trojan, though we’ve not had any internet access to send them out. At least that’s my excuse. Evan has been organising the finances and paying bills for the team. That’ a bit of a mission as the team fund has to pay for the meals, taxis, accommodation, tips and all sorts of stuff. There’s a photo of them somewhere on the blog site .

Next morning, another day without a shower, and we’re on the bus back to Bahir Dar. It was a great trip back to the nice hotel and water.... but no power and the laptop battery is flat, #$%#*^$*@&$!!

Anyway, without ANOTHER shower..... we headed off and interviewed more missionaries in training. Again we were amazed at the power of God to transform lives and motivate them to do great things. We were finished there about 3:30 pm and then headed off to visit Tis Abay, the largest water fall on the Blue Nile. Of course the Blue Nile starts at Lake Tana in Bahir Dar where we are staying. The Hotel has huge trees and there are hundreds of spectacular birds flying around. That night we had a lovely meal by the lake and headed off to bed.I’m out of time now so will sign off.

Over the next few days we’ll be out of contact probably, so when we get to Dubai we’ll send out another message. We’re keeping well fortunately. So thanks for following along with us.

Love to you all

Helen and Kevin 


out of Ethiopia

2008-04-12

It’s us again

Last blog saw us in bed in Bahir Dar after a great meal. The food is really nice, though the service wasn’t quite so good last night. Early the next morning we got up and out to the airport for the trip to Gonder. It’s only a 25 minute flight and everything went OK. We got to Gonder and into the Embassy Hotel, about 1 star I guess with stinky toilets. That’s par for the course!!! Gonder is a nice place, very old and proud history. It has huge old castles and history.

Wednesday 9th.......  and we’ve been in Ethiopia for 2 weeks, the time has flown by. The US team were delayed by 24 hours and finally got away to Frankfurt and Dallas. Evan and Jo left us today, their plane was 4 hours late. The planes were flying but the weather was cloudy and they said they couldn’t land. So, they hung around the airport for 4 hours while were delayed too, we are supposed to meet the same plane later to return to Bahir Dar.

We haven’t left the hotel yet.... there is no water and we’ve only had power for the last 1 ½ hours. Some days it gets very frustrating.It’s been great to have Evan and Jo with us. Even though they are family it’s not until you spend a few hours together that you get to talk and share stuff. It’s been great from that point of view and we look forward to a closer relationship with them in the future. They are such nice people, we really got to like them a lot and we’re missing them a lot now they have gone. At least it’s only 6 weeks till we are all back in NZ.

Anyway, back to last Saturday and our trip to Gonder. After lunch we headed off to visit a partnership between the local churches and the local government. There are 1,000s of homeless people, especially widows roaming the streets of the cities. It’s a blight on the theology of the Coptic church frankly. What sort of religion produces so many orphans and widows!? Anyway, we’re involved with the church from the US to assist feed the widows. They are such a pathetic group; the local government has identified the 50 poorest of the poor for assistance. The 50 come to the centre every day for two meals and a shower and a chat. On Saturday we went and visited them, about 40 were there, others were sick or unable to come that day. We interviewed some of them to hear their stories; each one has a tragic story of abandonment, loss, death and poverty. We noticed again that poverty smells, bad!

After that it was off to wander around the town and do some e-mails and then we went up to the hill that overlooks the city. We visited a reforestation programme the local churches have done; it’s on prime land near the city. They have planted indigenous trees, not eucalyptus, they hate the eucalyptus here thought there are millions of them planted to hold the land from slipping away into the Nile River. The indigenous trees are very slow growing and these ones have only been in the ground for 9 months. So they are very small and many have no leaves at this time of the year. I’m really looking forward to watching this develop over the next few years. The plan is to build some prayer houses here for Christians to come and pray and spend time in the quiet with God. Finding quiet space is very difficult in a country like this, there are people everywhere and noise just totally invades your private space. While we were visiting the reforestation project others were interviewing a young guy about student ministry and working through the possibilities of the US church sending some of their young people to do some stuff with the local students.

The next day we slept in a little, till 7:30 and after breakfast headed off to church. Kev was the preacher and it seemed to go OK. The singing was fantastic and the whole team loved being involved in that. After church we went back to the widows project and we had lunch with the mayor of Gonder. He sees like a nice guy and it was pretty brave of him to come and meet the church leaders, not a politically popular thing to do. The Ethiopian TV was there and also the local radio station. This is a big deal for the local churches who suffer such persecution and who find it difficult to get a hearing about anything, for example, if a person leaves the Coptic church then they cannot be buried as that church owns all the burial grounds. So they are rapt and the mayor gave them some free land on which to build small houses for the widows. So, although we don’t build buildings through Bright Hope World, here is another opportunity for engagement. We are working on some plans and it looks like we can build a house for a widow for about $US3,000 or less.

We then went back to the hotel for a nap and then a meeting with the church leaders of the area. They are very encouraged about the growth of the work. Then we went back to the top of the mountain and had dinner in the nice hotel up there.The next morning, Monday we had a debrief with the US team. That took us till lunch time, their flight was delayed by 2 hours. We talked through the issues they face being involved in this partnership and the things they have learned. This weekend they will be making a presentation to the church in Dallas and seeking to raise the funds required to continue this partnership.

They then went to the airport only to find that the plane has been cancelled!! They missed their connection with Lufthansa to Frankfurt and then on to Dallas. They got away 24 hours later after a lot of phone calls from Worku our main man!!

We spent Monday afternoon and evening hanging around resting and writing stuff. 6:00 am the next morning Kevin went with Worku to the airport to ensure the US team got away OK!!! Funny, after two tuk tuk rides and mad ride in a taxi and another in a minibus he was back at the hotel and no flights. They didn’t finally leave till about 4:00 pm and made their connection to Europe and the US. The team had been put up in a swanky hotel by the airline so we didn’t see them again.

After lunch we went out to the village that Worku was brought up in. It was great to meet his parents again. They are such nice people and so hospitable. We had another lunch at their place and our guys, Jo, Evan and Helen reckoned this was the best meal they has eaten in Ethiopia. Worku’s mother sure can cook. The scenery and road to Tikil Dingay is truly spectacular. It has to be seen to be believed, I’ve put a couple of shots on the blog site so have a look. The name Tikil Dingay means “erect stone” and you can see why.We got back to the hotel totally stuffed and unable to move or eat again for days.

We chatted the evening away making plans for the work and drinking macchiatos and then watched Liverpool thrash Arsenal. We thought of Jared jumping up and down in the last few minutes. It rained in the night and the next morning, Tuesday it was very cloudy.

I’m writing this on Thursday morning and the clouds are still low, the locals have never seen this weather at any time of the year, let alone now, they blame us NZers for bringing it! Evan an Jo headed off to the airport early on Wednesday and we left them at the door with a few tears. We headed back to the hotel to wait for our flight to Bahir Dar. They were meant to leave at 8:30 am to go to Axum but didn’t leave till about 12:15. Our flight was delayed from 1:00 pm till 4:30. So we chatted to Worku in the hotel and Tilahun, the guy who manages the widows program came down and we worked on some strategies for growing the work. Finally we said goodbye to our friend Worku and headed off to Bahir Dar and 2 days rest.

Thursday morning and last night we crashed. We lay on the bed at about 6:30 pm, for a bit of a rest before dinner and got up at 8:00 the next morning. The stress of having to look after a whole bunch of people seems to have lifted and we’re a little more normal again. Today we plan to rest, catch up on reports writing, do some bird watching and read.

Well we did and we still haven’t got to send this. we’re now in Dubai, Saturday afternoon and I’ll send this without any more comment and write up and send the next instalment in a couple of days. Hopefully from New Delhi, we head off there in about 4 hours.

If you get a chance check out the Bright Hope World website, see the partnerships and buy some coffee.

Love and thanks

Helen and Kevin 


Globalization

2008-04-15

Globalization

Thought I’d throw a big word at you. It’s a word we’ve become exposed to over the last couple of days. We were in a bus from the plane to the terminal at Dubai. It took 15 minutes in the bus and we passed more than 40 Emirates planes on the ground, big boys, not little commuter planes. Anyway, we were in the bus and I looked around: a bunch of Chinese having an animated conversation in Mandarin, or was it Cantonese at the back of the bus; to their left 4 Ethiopians conversing in Amharic, I heard a few words I could recognise; a group of Ugandans laughing and giggling just beside us and a Ugandan lady with her little baby playing with Helen; some very imperious and sophisticated Arabic gentlemen sitting quietly further up the bus, resplendent in their gowns and headgear (they came from 1st class!,) a cluster of English businessmen sounding like they had been into the beer on the flight and a couple Kiwi waifs.

By the way, we were upgraded to business class on this flight from Addis Ababa to Dubai. It was 2:00 am and it all seemed very surreal.We were pretty tired by the time we got to the hotel and we crashed for a few hours. We went off to a local shopping centre and very quickly we were in a most obscene world. We had just come from 5 weeks in Africa and 2 weeks in Ethiopia, mainly in rural areas. Just a few hours before we had been sitting in a little village in the North of the country and now we were plunged into a world of Gucci. It was kind of freaky and we didn’t stay long. Kevin got a haircut, ate some lunch and an ice cream and we caught up with some e-mails.  That filled up the day and we waited around in our room and went off to the airport to catch the plane for Delhi.

The hairdresser reminded me about Globalization again with a few facts and figures: there are 1.2 million Indians living in Dubai; there are 250,000 Filipinos living there too, many of whom do not earn enough to ever dream of leaving; he worked for an Iranian who owned the beautiful hair salon, he had been there for 3 years and reckoned he wouldn’t be able to leave for another 3 years, they charged me $US20 for the haircut and he would get about 25 cents of it; there were 5 other Filipino hairdressers in that salon.

We arrived in Delhi at about 2:30 am. The guys from Delhi Bible Institute were there to meet us but we missed them and finally, after a phone call and lots of wandering around we found our guys, 1 ½ hours later!! So, it was another early morning. That morning Kevin went off to church and Helen slept most of the day. At church there were a group of people giving their testimonies, 12 people in all, young and old, but what about this: a woman from a Sikh background and her two children; a couple from a Hindu background; a girl from a Christian family and a South African teenager. Globalization, here in the church; this is the church of the 21st Century. You had better believe it.

So we kind of hung out for the afternoon and then went out to the local market area for evening dinner. We found a Chinese restaurant and had a lovely meal with food from India, Burma, China and Korea! We started to walk home and ran into a very noisy band and a horse all decked out in clothes. Being nosy, Helen started to ask the locals what was going on and it was a wedding. But all the guests were white, from the UK we found out. The guy on the horse was English and he was marrying an Indian girl, in the Hindu temple in the middle of Khan market in Delhi with a band from Gurgaon. Globalization.... I couldn’t help but laugh a little with a tinge of sadness, it’s all back to front from a century ago. Today we had witnessed Sikhs and Hindus becoming Christians and Westerners becoming Hindus. It’s the world we live in, like it or not. It’s the world we serve in, like it or not. We like it though at times it’s pretty confusing and sometimes pretty stressful.

Monday we were in meetings most of the day. It’s been great to hear the stories of life, family and community transformation. There are some awesome people out there changing the world. It’s great to be on the team with them. Thanks too for your part in this. I would love to write a book about some of these people, but many of them would be compromised and their ability to do stuff would end. So we can’t write the book, yet.

Love to everyone

Helen and Kevin 


Nepal

2008-04-21

We’ve been in Kathmandu for a few  days now, and it’s been a really great time. Helen wasn’t well at first, the 2nd day into Nepal and she was feeling OK again. Kathmandu really stinks. It’s 8:00 pm and the lights are out, but if you struck a match in the air the whole place would blow. The methane gas in the air is hardly able to be breathed. We’re staying near a river and all the rivers here are basically open sewers. The smell and stench is appalling. But the people we are staying with are nice and we’re doing OK. The place goes off at night with dogs barking, it’s really very loud. Doesn’t do much for Helen’s sleep patterns.

We got here on Wednesday afternoon without any hassles... except we almost missed the plane. We go to the airport in good time and through security and Immigration and Customs and Security and bag wrapping and 30 minutes in a queue, but we got there with a couple of hours to spare. We were sitting around reading, talking and Helen was on the computer and we looked up, it’s only 10 minutes  till the plane leaves. Oh strike we’ve blown it, but.... true to its word, Indian Airlines was late..... Yay for late! It was great to have wireless internet access all the time we were in Delhi and we’re sure missing it now. At the moment the power is off so that doesn’t help. We finally connected at about 5:00 p.m and ½ way through the first email the power disappeared!! Oh well, what the heck. The world doesn’t stop cause the power goes off.

The first evening we arrived we spent getting to know our hosts, Niranjan and Sonu Adhikary and their 2 kids Nigel and Nancy. Oh before that, after being here for 5 minutes we had to head off to a little house church meeting. It was nice to meet the two families, I whacked my head on the door (a common occurrence) and had to be raised from the dead ,and to share some thoughts from the Bible to encourage them. Then we spent the evening talking, and Niranjan can talk, I think Kev’s met his  match! He gets so excited about ministry and serving God, and it’s very hard for them here. Both of them have been rejected by their families because of their faith. Niranjan has also lost most of his father’s land as well.

You might have seen in the news that there was a referendum here in Nepal. The Maoist party got a fair % of the vote and people are very worried. It is the same people who have been giving a lot of grief to Christians in rural places. Many have been beaten had land confiscated and had buildings burned in this fair referendum. Anyway, we’re not really interested in the politics, sometimes it just makes us mad that such intolerance exists and people think they have the right to force others to accept their belief system.

The next day Helen stayed at home with Sonu and I went off  to the bush with Niranjan and another guy to visit a couple of partners we have funded. It was a great day getting to know these guys in the field. We left Kathmandu at about 6:30 and drove for a couple of hours to the east and then north. Up out of the Kathmandu valley with stunning views, we then drove down into the Indrawati  River Valley. We drove for about 30 minutes and then turned off onto a side road, well I think it was a road, or meant to be. We forded rivers and picked our way around rice paddies, dodged maniacal bus drivers and death wish motorbike riders. We finally stopped at the top of an amazing hilltop and got out. We then wandered down past some houses and circuited dome rice paddies on the side of hills till we came to the little farm we were assisting. The farmer proudly showed off his buffalo he milked and the goats. We drank some of the milk and ate boiled potatoes whilst looking out over the most magnificent panorama. The family were totally fascinated by this funny old bloke that turned up; it’s the first time a white person had been there and most of them had never seen or met a white man. But these ones had heard about Jesus and that was good news.

It all ended too soon and we headed off to see another farmer. It’s not too far..... and there is a 30 minute walk to get there..... it’s not too far. I’ll never believe that guy again about anything. We drove back along the same goat track, there were 4 of us in a little Suzuki Maruti car, about the size of a large suitcase. At least it was narrow, and I wondered if it would break the trees down the side of the road cause the drop to the bottom in some places was like 500 metres! Anyway, we drove back to the junction and then took off, for another 1 ½ hours along a reasonable gravel and rock road. The guys in the back slept but I would have broken my neck had I tried it. Besides, it was fascinating driving slowly through these little rural villages observing life at a very basic level.

The driver stopped in one village and apparently this was where we started walking. “Where’s the track” I asked,” just over there.” I looked around and couldn’t see anything , and for the next hour my head, heart, lungs and legs couldn’t work out where they were. We climbed straight up the side of this mountain for an hour and I was dead by the end of it. We met a little family up there with a buffalo. They sold the milk to support themselves and to support the church ministries. They were severely criticised by the political party who were trying to take the animal off them. The lack of exposure to the world and education is appalling here, at least as bad, probably worse than remote parts of Africa.

Then it was down the mountain, it took less than half the time and we laughed and chatted our way down! We were going to visit the people who got the goats but that was another 2 hours walk away. Niranjan showed us a map of Nepal where the churches were and some of them are 9 days walk, not across flat land, in the Himalayas. Remote ain’t the word for it. Then we drove back into the traffic jam that is Kathmandu. We stopped in a village for a goat curry and crushed rice; it was great with a coke. Home about 8 and food and a wash never felt so good. The taxi driver spent at least 30% of his time hooting his hooter and if there wasn’t anyone to hoot at he just hooted anyway it seemed.

Friday was supposed to be a 5 hour trip to the west, but we changed the plan. I wanted to spend time talking to Niranjan and Suno about their vision and it takes oodles of time to get into a partners head and heart. These are lovely people with a clear vision and who share similar values with us. It’s great to meet people with whom your heart resonates. These are amazing people and we’ll talk more about them in later days and on the website. We went out to dinner and came home and talked some more. It’s bed time and the dogs are barking again.....grrr... So we’ll try and get some sleep.Saturday evening –

20th April, we’ve been on the road now for almost 7 weeks. I have to say we a flagging a little, today we had to have a nana nap to keep up the pace. Saturday is like Sunday here; church is on and tomorrow is a normal day. We went off to church at 10:00 and as usual Kevin had to preach. There about 40 people at church, the room was 4 metres by 4 metres. They have to keep the doors shut while singing so that people do not get upset! There were some lovely people there, especially the young people. One young Hindu girl was asking questions after the service and we hope she discovers the living Christ. We had our nap after lunch and spent the late afternoon and evening discussing the finer points of the partnership we are developing. This is looking like a real opportunity to get involved with, so we’re excited about that.

Sunday - it doesn’t seem like Sunday but then yesterday did ,so we couldn’t have two I one week, kevin would have to preach again!!! We had breakfast and headed out to check out a little lady who has a tailoring business. Niranjan thinks she has the capacity to grow the business and generate some more income and create some new jobs. So we’ve asked him to put a project together. It could create 5 jobs. Niranjan and Sonu’s vision is to assist the development of little businesses that will contribute to a fund that will be the foundation of a truly indigenous and supported church growth movement.We then went off into the centre of Kathmandu and visited the 18th Century Hindu temples. It’s a world heritage site and is called Hanuman Dhoka Durbar. It’s worth a visit. The streets around are fascinating with little shops the size of a wardrobe and people pushing and shoving. The smells are amazing with all the spices and incense; the olfactory senses go ballistic trying to cope with it all.

The power goes off every day for 3 ½ hours and for 4 hours in the evenings. Pretty frustrating so we try to be home when the power is on so we can talk and capture it all. Helen is on the internet at the moment while Kevin is writing this rubbish. We’re back to Delhi tomorrow for one night and we’ll send this out then, Monday evening.

Monday evening. Back in Delhi and enjoying the heat, 40o. Also enjoying the internet, it’s amazing how much you get to depend on it. we got to DBI where we are staying the night and there was a lovely meal waiting for us. It was great and it’s mango season, sheeeesh they were beautiful! Talked the evening away with Gloria and Isaac Shaw about self sustaining ministry and worked on a couple of projects. So now we’re catching up on e-mails, confirming tickets, organising finances and all that sort of things. Also we’re having showers, 1st ones for 6 days!!!! The IPL Cricket is raging here in India and with Brendan McCullam’s heroics the other night it’s a good place to be a kiwi at the moment!!!

Well friends, this is a longer edition but we’ve got a few days to cover. We’re off to the Centre North of India for a couple of days, Siliguri, and then over the top of Bangladesh to Dimapur / Kohima. So we could be out of touch for a few days.

Love to ya all

Helen and Kevin


North East India

2008-04-29

We’re in Siliguri, West Bengal, if you look at a map it’s due North of Kolkata (Calcutta.) It’s the gateway to Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Northern parts of India like Darjeeling, tea country. It’s hot, like sticky hot, even the locals are crying! We’re actually a little fortunate to be here, the blimmin airline we’ve been flying with have changed all their times and not told us, so for the 2nd trip with them we’ve missed flights. Fortunately we were able to get another flight a bit later. So we’ve been trying to sort out the new itinerary. One flight has been completely cancelled so now we’ve got to find an alternative from Dimpur to Kolkata on the 29th April.

The time in Siliguri has been nice. Our partner here is a woman who is working with refugees. She is a refugee herself, her story is very sad in many ways... but the circumstances have given the whole family a whole bunch of new opportunities. It’s a bit difficult to say too much so they are not compromised. But it’s all related to Bhutan and the huge persecutions that went on 15 years ago.We(hmm .....truly its ONE of us...) are eating way too much and all the rice is getting rather tedious. There are real needs here but it’s not that easy yet to see the way forward. But that will come eventually. When you’re working with good people something always comes to the fore.

Anyway, we’re watching IPL cricket, interesting to be here watching NZers doing OK. Helen was doing a Sudoku puzzle but sleep has caught up with her. We don’t have to be on deck till 10:00 am tomorrow so that will be great.  Oh blimmin heck, not again!! There are huge explosions going off outside again. Last night it was a huge wedding festival with huge megaphones, lights and fire crackers going off for an hour or so. Now tonight again, and it’s 10:45, don’t the locals ever sleep here!!! Maybe we’ll need the sleep-in in the morning!

We slept well until 6:15 when the phone rang and our partner here, Primela, rang to say that the programme had changed  for the day! No, these guys never sleep. We spent the morning talking to the team and then had lunch before heading off to the airport. We said goodbye with sadness, these are really nice people with lots of ideas and vision for their poor countrymen, but are struggling to know how best to deal with the situation.

Off to Kolkata, and here it’s really hot, and sticky. Got there pretty much on time and the guys from the hotel were there to pick us up. Thank goodness for Lonely Planet! Not a bad room really, quiet air conditioner (ac) and not too much noise coming in from outside. Huge cockroaches, but we slept well and then out to the airport for this flight to Dimapur. The airport is hugely disorganised, and Kevin was about the last guy on the plane. Such a process and no one really cares whether you make the plane or not!

So we’re sitting in the plane somewhere over Bangladesh writing to you. We’ll keep you up to date as we go along over the next couple of days, hopefully we’ll be able to get onto the internet in the next 24 hours.

Kevin is sitting in the window of a room writing up reports and we could be looking out the window of any little room onto a  little dusty road in any country of the world frankly. It’s a pleasant day, not too hot with a lovely breeze knocking the edge off the heat. We’re in the outskirts of Dimapur, the border State of India and Myanmar. We’re amongst the Naga people, they don’t look Indian, they don’t eat Indian, they don’t think Indian and they don’t believe like Indians (95% of them are Christians and 90% of those are Baptist. They are about as Indian as I us) But they find themselves inside the borders of India and can’t do anything about it. Quite a few of them would like to, there is a growing independence movement here. They openly talk about the day they will be free. Many of them live in Myanmar. Because of the internal tensions there are occasional flare ups so we had to get a RAP, restricted Area Pass, to visit here. So it’s very different, we haven’t met an Indian here for a couple of days.

Yesterday and again this morning we met with a doctor we’ve been funding for the last 4 years. He works in a remote, rural palce on the Bhutan border where there is a huge amount of sickness and superstition. His role is to support the development of the church in the area. Since we started supporting him he’s got married and has a little boy of one, so, it was nice to meet him for the first time, his name is Dr. Chuba Walling. 

Helen is down the road interviewing a couple of families who have received pigs from the programme we have helped set up here. Kevin is writing up reports from the meetings we’ve just finished. It’s very quiet, very rural and very pleasant. We’re tired, slept last night in Dimapur and the next two nights we’re staying with our partners in their little rural house with crisscross bamboo walls. It’s really nice in the heat, the wind just blows right through the house, fresh air con they call it.

It’s now evening and someone in the house is snoring! And the dog is barking right outside our bamboo wall, it’s actually not very thick at all. We’ve eaten heaps today, that Naga people know how to eat, it’s amazing they are such small, trim people. Tomorrow Kevin has to speak 3 times and he didn’t have a tie, they all dress up here for church a bit like the Pacific Islands. But, he was given a tie tonight. It’s brown and beautiful and went really well with the black shirt, but what the heck, it doesn’t have to match!!

Anyway, we survived the sermons and the Subong and Narola, our partners here very encouraged by the response to the sermons. The churches here, and there are huge numbers of them, are totally unaware of the poor and needy. So Subong has been using me to push the poverty issue and the responsibility of the church to engage with the poor. That night we went out for dinner with some of the board members, they are such nice people and so generous.

It’s the day we are due to leave Dimapur and virtually everyone we have met has given us a gift. So Helen is frantically throwing out everything she can to keep our weight down. We’ll probably arrive home dressed in Naga costume .Yesterday we went to Kohima, it’s the capital city of Nagaland State. It’s an amazing place really, perched along the razor ridges of some very steep hills and valleys. It’s a capital under siege in some ways. There are thousands of Indian troops around and frequent outbursts of unrest. It’s claim to fame is that it is the site of the first major battle of World War 2 in which the allies, mainly British and Indians, defeated the Japanese and they commenced their retreat from there through Asia. We visited the war cemetery where thousands of young British men are buried and a few women too. We noticed a few Australians, but no Kiwis. The accounts of the fighting are horrendous and the distance from home for these young boys who were breathing their last must have seemed eternal. A solemn reminder of the cost of war, so far from home.

The road from Dimapur to Kohima is pretty tortuous. While there we managed to get to the internet for a few minutes but not to get this out, we went without a shower for another day and the best hotel in town had no water!!!!!!,Kevin managed to play cricket in the car-park for a an hour or so with a bunch of young Indian men and we talked about the IPL, and we met the Director of Agriculture for the State of Nagaland, the main reason for being there. He rocked up to the hotel with his personal bodyguard and a soldier with an Uzzi machine gun so we were quite safe, or were we?!

Anyway, we’re back in Dimapur having spent 4 days with Subong and Narola Aier. Such lovely people, you’ll see more about them over the next months if you check out the Bright Hope World website. We’re going to have our work cut out getting it all sorted when we get back, and we will only  have two month until we hit the road again. In a couple of hours we fly to Kolkata and spend the night there in THE WHITE PALACE hotel. It sounds a lot grander than reality, but there is the possibility of some hot water and a shower.....YIPEEEEE... It’s now 15 days since Helen( AND KEVIN!!!)  last had a shower so it’s getting very bad!!! We are seriously thinking about changing our marital status and single beds are the order of the day!!

Anyway, lots’ of love to you all. We’re off to a place called Kakinada and the temperature there is around 400, so things will be pretty steamy for the next four days. We have to spend most of tomorrow travelling, Kolkata to Chennai ( 2 hours flight and 4 hours in the airport), Chennai to Rajamundry and then an  hour’s drive to Kakinada. We should be able to update from there so here’s hoping.

We are both thankful to be well.....and no scary tummy bugs.....and mad dashes to the loo.....!!In fact we hardly use the loos much. Because of the heat our bodies retain as much as they can to keep us breathing!!!!

We appreciate your emails, blog messages (we’ll send you a personal note when we can) and prayers .... WE GOT TO KOLAKATA OK!

Blessings

Helen and Kevin  


Kakinada by the sea

2008-05-02

We got out and it smelt like we were in a swimming pool complex. That’s what you spread on the ground when visitors come to visit a leper colony. Don’t you just hate both words: leper; talk about a death sentence, rejection and herded into a ghetto; colony; someone else controlling you, making your decisions for you. But that’s the reality for these people, they are shunned and pushed into little communities so the people don’t have to interact with you.

That’s the reality for one of our partners too. She runs a little programme in Zambia for 12 or so kids and when we were there earlier in the year it was very obvious she was very unwell. We heard this week that she almost died and has been diagnosed with HIV / AIDS. So she’s very unwell and will be for a while until she can get stabilized on ARTs. She is 37 years old, that’s better than average in Zambia now!

Another visit to another leper programme Bright Hope World is financing. My goodness, this must be as bad as the human condition gets. If there is anything worse in the world please don’t take me there. Appalling is the only word for it. We came away traumatised today. Apart from the poverty, dirt, oppressive heat and smell there is the deformity, pain and rejection. It is truly shocking and in the midst of it some beautiful children.

We met Mary, about 12 or 13 I guess, a beautiful little girl who was having a meal there. Her grandmother, the mother of her mother is a leper and in the colony. She and 10 of her friends attended a camp that Bright Hope personnel, Dave de Roles and Marty Shibe ran earlier in the year. She absolutely loved the camp and when asked what she liked she said “all of it!” she couldn’t stop smiling at the memories and we talked about the food, the games and the friends, and of course the puppets and songs. Hey, if you’re looking for an offshore experience Bright Hope World sends a team to run the camps and training a couple of times a year in India and you could join a team. Let us know if you want to do something like that.

The local council owns the buildings that lepers live in. Some of them were pretty run down so they have knocked them down and now many of the people have to live in temporary accommodation. It’s very basic, pretty bad actually. So now they get their treatment and meals and have to cook outside. This is not a good scene as it’s nearing 40os and in a couple of months the Monsoon will be in full swing. A lot of the lepers cannot come out into the direct sunlight so tend to stay away from the treatment centre, so they get worse infections, if that’s possible. We left $US250 with them to build a temporary shelter, what else can you do.

Hot, strike it’s hot here. It’s around 40o and will go up another 5 or 6 degrees within a month. I have never seen Helen so affected by heat and I’ve never sweated so much. We come home dripping with sweat. The other side is that our amazing hosts, Emmanuel and Jessie have put a heat pump in our room so we come back and dry out in 25o and then head off into the heat again. We slept like the dead last night.

We went and spent the evening with the 30 kids in a home run by the team here. The team is called Christian Friends Charitable Trust or CFCT. They run the sewing programmes we will be visiting later today and tomorrow, the children’s home, two leper feeding and treatment programmes and want us to look at assisting with a disabled persons’ ministry as well, we’re going to see that today. It’s pretty impressive I have say, they have such good people involved with a genuine desire to serve. The guy who does the dressings at one to the leper centres is a leper himself and his hands are severely disabled, humbling really.

Roads in India, an objective perspective after hours spent observing!:

Yes, it is possible to get 14 people in an auto-rickshaw. There will never be a Guinness world record because they wouldn’t be able to stop the blimmin things to get a count.

Yes. It is possible to fit 4 lanes of traffic into 2 lanes travelling in opposite directions.

No, they will never sort out driving in India – a headline in a Delhi paper commenting on the attempts to speed up traffic and bring some order – IT MIGHT BE GOOD FOR US, BUT DO WE WANT IT! I say give up now and shift to the country.

Yes, it’s true, the most common spare part worn out in India is the horn. They spend 30% of their time hooting, even if there in nothing happening and no one hurtling at them they toot the horn, well you’ll never be good if you don’t practice.

No, you are not safe on a pedestrian crossing. The lines on the road indicate to car drivers they should swerve violently about and give them some to line up their target with

Yes, it is fine to pull out onto the road without looking and then stop and observe the outcomes and make a clear choice what to do next. Often the option taken is to stall the vehicle in the middle of the road!

No, it is not compulsory to stick to your side of the road, even when there is a metre high median barrier! Why the heck would you do that when you can go the other way and cause chaos.

Yes, chaos is the best way to describe it all.

It’s the wedding season here. The astrologers say it’s the time for a lucky marriage so off you go a find a wife, well, off the family goes and finds a wife. So there are parties going off everywhere, decorated cars and auto rickshaws full of beautifully decked out women in Saris.

Anyway, we’ll sign off and try to get this out to you.Just a week now till we get back NZ. We’re kind of looking forward to it really; we’re still pretty tired but doing well. Thanks to the Lord for strengthening and to you guys for being on the team. Couldn’t do it without you all.

Love

Helen and Kevin


Bangalore and home

2008-05-12

It’s a beautiful, warm morning and the sun is shining in Whangaparaoa. Yep we’re home and have caught up with our sleep. It’s lovely to be home in one piece. It’s time to charge the batteries, catch up on reports and stuff and plan for the rest of the year. It’s been good to catch up with family too, we’re making plans for Sara’s engagement party in Auckland this coming Saturday.

We had a good trip back to NZ. We went from Bangalore to Dubai; over-nighted there and then came back to the Long White Cloud through Melbourne. It’s nice to be back, nice to be able to put feet up for a few days.

Last blog we were in Kakinada and it was hot, we left there on Sunday afternoon and travelled to Bangalore through Hyderabad. Hyderabad airport is a most beautiful building. The whole airline industry in India is amazing, great airlines, improving facilities and a whole heap of new planes. 36,000 new hostesses and hosts per year as well as all the other jobs, it’s just booming. We got to Bangalore and checked out the three partners there. It was pretty inspiring to talk to them and see what was going on.

ONE: Sugumaran, he is the administration guy at SAIACS, the seminary we stay at when in Bangalore. We are partnering with a number of their graduates; in fact most of our Indian partners were students here. Sugumaran was running a dairy project in Kolar, the local extreme political people didn’t want the influence of Christian values so they gave them such a hard time the project had to stop. So the kids won’t get uniforms, a library and their school fees paid. We’ve had to park that partnership for the time being, we are hoping that there will be more opportunities in that place in the future.

TWO: Vidya Sagar, he is an entrepreneur with a lot of things going on. He and his wife Ruth run a school with almost 200 kids in their back yard, they have a hostel for some of the kids; they are involved in starting some new churches in squatter compounds and he runs a balm production and distribution business. Kevin spent a day with him checking out the various things going on and we went to their place for dinner the last night there. It’s good to see the enthusiasm he has for life and for helping others. Helen recovered from a bug by giving it to Kevin!

THREE: T Raja, we could not explain the situation at the Home of Hope, run by T Raja and his team. We spent a morning with them and heard the vision of the guy. We heard of his vision to have over a thousand people in the centre. The mission is to rescue people from the streets, people who are lying about the streets in desperate circumstances. The police from over 50 stations send their desperate, abused and abandoned to them and they take them in with no questions. The place was designed for about 100 people and there are about 280 there now. A year ago when we were here the number was 170. Because of this they have to build a new complex. It’s impossible to explain the sights, sounds and especially difficult to explain the smell. The place just reeks, but it’s better than the streets.

Anyway, we’ll keep you informed about that and we’ll try to get a video onto the Bright Hope World website so you can check it out. Talking about smell, Kevin has his bags outside in the sun airing them out; they stunk on arrival home, like he had something dead in them!

So friends, thanks for the company on the trip, we’ll stay in touch and let you know what’s going on. We’re planning to be around for a few weeks with a trip to Christchurch and to Levin before we head off shore again.

Blessings

Helen and Kevin


getting sorted

2008-06-09

Hey there freinds,

Long time no hear! Sorry about that. Once you get back from being on the road it`s hard to stay in the mode of writing on the blog. But the journey isn`t over for this year so we`re back in communication mode. The other thing is that there is so much writing to catch up on after a trip that more writing is not really very exciting. But, we`re back.

It`s been pretty full on since getting back to NZ. Kevin has been in Christchurch for a week and Nelson for four days. The main purpose was to write up reports and develop the website and to interview a new family going out to Zambia to work on Maplehurst Farm. They are NZers who have been farming in Australia for a few years. They head off there in a few weeks with their four children for at least a year. We`re off to Levin for next weekend and will catch up with a few people then. Tomorrow Kevin goes off to Taupo for 3 days to a leadership camp. We are also developing a partnership with a group in NZ to assist churches develop new mission vision and strategy. This should result in a lot more churches getting involved in partnership over the next few years.

We had an engagement party for our daughter, Sara the week after getting home. It was great to catch up with her friends and someof ours as well. We`ve got another engagement party this coming Saturday in Palmerston North. It will be great to catch up on our friends and family down that way. Sara`s fiance, Karl is from Palmy so it will be nice to meet some of his family a well.

The rest of this year has had to be rearranged a little as Jared and Ruth are returning to NZ in August after more than 3 years away in the UK. So until they find a place to live and jobs etc they will be staying with us. Also, with Sara and Karl getting married at the end of November we think it`s important for Helen to hang around a little more. Because of that we`ve had to make a few changes to our travel plans. We`ll put the new itinerary onto the web later today as well. It means that Helen won`t be travelling again until next year and Kevin will do three shorter trips as well.

In July Kevin will go to Zambia and Ethiopia for 4 weeks. Then he`ll come back to NZ for 4 weeks before heading off to the USA, Kenya, Uganda and Pakistan in September. Later in the year he`ll head off to Nepal, India, Myanmar and Thailand or 3 weeks. So it`s going to be full on with plenty to do here and there.

We are so blessed to be working with such amazing people, here and there. Thanks for being part of the team. We need to share somethng with you that is pretty important and we`re pretty passionate about. We realise that costs are going up here, we are all very concerned about this I`m sure. But in the countries where we are working it`s a lot worse. Rice has doubled in price in the last 8 months and will probably double again before the end of the year. Effectively that means the food costs are double for most or our partners. Most of them could not afford it before the costs went up. When you add to this the rise in fuel costs it is huge problem. I`m no prophet, but my feeling is that there will be many riots and disturbances over the next few months related to the rise in food costs. Many of these people are Chritian brothers and sisters. If you combine this with the weakness of the US dollar, some of our friends are now receiving less than one third of the income from a year ago. I`m sharing this with you for no other reason than to make you aware of the issues. Everything we experience here in the West is multiplied 2 or 3 times in the developing world. If you can help then let us know?

We`ll be in touch again before Kevin heads off again on the 12th July.

Love

Kevin and Helen


a few changes great partners

2008-06-23

Dear friends,

It`s not long now until Kevin goes off to Africa and Helen stays home to do family stuff. We`ll fill you in on that a little later. Next Sunday we both go to Christchurch for a Bright Hope World Board meeting. Then we come back to Levin on the following Thursday and on Monday 5th we come back to Auckland. On Sunday morning Helen`s father died in Levin and she is down there now. Kevin goes down tomorrow with Sara, the funeral is on Wednesday. Then Thursday back up to Auckland. It`s a really quick trip and it adds up to a full on couple of weeks. Thanks for the prayer and support.

We have some really great things going on in BHW at the moment. Great new partners are joining the existing team and we are working hard to develop the opportunities they present to us. To achieve this we are putting together a team to develop New Zeaalnd partnerships so we can better serve our partners. We are talking to a number New Zealand partners who are considering taking up sponsorships and that`s pretty exciting. We are developing some pasrtnerships in new countries too and that`s pretty enouraging, places like Pakistan and Papua New  Guinea.  Some of the new stuff involves developing community schools in Zambia and Ethiopia, Sewing programmes in India and Pakistan, Farms in Zambia, Nepal and India. It`s pretty diverse farming too, milk, palm oil, cows and beef stock, rice and vegetables. So if you know people who want to invest in God`s kingdom and in assisting people to become self sufficient let me know.

Anyway, back to the family stuff. Jared and Ruth are coming back to live in New Zealand in August and for a few months will be living with us. That`s one reason she is not traveliing this year. The second reason is that they are expecting to have a baby in October so that`s pretty exciting. The third family event is Sara`s wedding on the 29th November. So it`s a full on year and we`re going to need all the prayer we can get to get through it all.

I`m heading off to bed and I hope you guys are all doing OK? Please feel free to put a note on the blog or to send us an e-mail. We love having you guys on the journey and are very thankful you can share this with us. I cannot tell you of the jjoy you bring to so many people: Thomas who is struggling to plant churches in Sudan, Sharon in Northern Mozambique, Mekashaw in Ethiopia, Samuel in Myanmar and Niranjin and Sonu in Nepal. We are in constant with them and they are very happy with the opportunitiy they have to fulfil their vision to impact theri communities.

Kevin and Helen


back to Africa and not very happy

2008-07-10

Not happy you ask, yea. This time tomorrow Kevin will be on the plane to Perth and then to Zambia through Johannesburg while Helen stays in Whangaparaoa. We hate being split up, but this year it`s all go in the family and we need to put some time into that as well. So Helen will be hanging out here to be available to Sara as she prepares for her wedding and Jared and Ruth as they prepare to come home from the UK.

We`ve put a few pictures up today to remind you of some of the great people we work with. The Burrowes family are kiwis who have been farming in Australia for a few years. Over the last few weeks we`ve been in NZ, they came over to visit and we have asked them to go to Maplehurst Farm in Zambia. So off they have gone. Kevin will be in Zambia when they arrive on the 1st August, so that will be cool.

While we`ve been in NZ this time we`ve approved a number of new partnerships as well so that`s been cool. it`s good to have new stuff coming onto the books, frankly the problem at the moment is that we have way too much new stuff coming on!! So it`s been pretty busy writing it all up. But it`s getting there. check out the Bright Hope World website on www.brighthopeworld.com and see the 70+ partnerships there. We still have another 50 to add but we`re getting there. The two new countries are Pakistan and Kevin will  be visiting there on the trip folowing this one and then there is a new partnership in Papua New Guinea, there`s a photo of one of the two rice mills that are going into a couple of remote villages. The rising cost of food and fuel is becoming a major issue for many of our partners.

There`s another photo here of Shula, talked to you about her once before i think. She lives in Mozambique and is originally from Zambia. She`s in her early 20s and is running a comunity school in Maputo. she wrote telling about the the sense of great loss she has as recently three of "her girls" died. She also wrote of the great suffering she observes and how it forces her turn to God and learn from him. It`s such a privilege to know people like this. we learn so much from them.

Then there`s a photo of Sharon, another Zambian woman livng in the north of Mozambique. she has had 3 of her family members die recently and she`s had to return to Zambia as her brother left 6 children she is now responsible for. How do you deal with that. Many have to.

Thanks so much for the thoughts and love expressed to Helen at the death of her dad. We went to Levin and Kevin took the service with the family participating, Helen read Psalm 23. It was a lovely time with the family, Helen has 7 siblings and they were all there, it was great. The following day we interred the ashes of Helen`s father and mother. So it was sad, and hard but there were some special memories of the past and new ones created. After the funeral we shot back up to Auckland to speak at a church and then shot through to Chrsitchurch for BHW Board meetings and other important stuff, then back to Levin to speak at the church we come from and then back to Auckland, whew. It`s been a bit crazy. We`ve had meetings with Worku our Ethiopian friend and we`re working on some new plans for there that are pretty exciting.

So, another trip looms large and we again want to express our thanks to you for being on the journey with us. Thanks for your prayers in antincipation and for your love expressed to us.

Love

Kevin and Helen


Zoom, Zoom in Zambia

2008-07-19

Today I discovered a number of things about myself and about travel in Africa! But before we come to that a quick fill in about the last few days. I had good flights to Perth and then to Johannesburg and overnighted in both places. Then a real early flight from Jo’burg meant that I arrived in Zambia at 9:00 am. Chris, one of our bright hope guys in Zambia was there to meet me and we dropped my bags off and went to town. Had a beautiful coffee in Kilimanjaro cafe at Manda Hill, got a haircut and met one of our friends, Mercy; had to deliver a parcel to her. Then I had an appointment with a potential new partner and went back to the guest house. Couldn’t sleep so got up at 2 :00 am and did some e-mails and then rested for 30 minutes before the alarm rang a 3:45. Off to the bus at 4, arriving at 4:30..... the bus was full even though I had a ticket!

I’m safely in Chipata after a pretty wild day, the trip to Perth and then Johannesburg and then to Lusaka were nothing in comparison to the day in the bus. I’ve often thought about this before, but the reality hit home today. It’s easier for us to travel to say Lusaka from New Zealand than it is for a Zambian to get to Lusaka from another part of Zambia. And our time on the trip is filled in with videos, movies, music, food, flush toilets and service on demand, and we hardly ever touch anyone all the way. Today we had five seats across the bus, seats for 55 people but there were up to 75 people on at any one time, the entertainment was 25 Malawian women chanting local songs while the two guys next to me had a ghetto blaster blasting and I had my iPod, all at the same time, the food was the 2 bananas, 2 oranges and2 small packets of peanuts and raisins I bought at the supermarket the day before, the toilets were 75 people on the side of the road (men to the right women to the left,) and we certainly got to touch people! Fortunately I was towards the rear so was totally safe from death from road accident from the secure cocoon of luggage that shielded us form anything less than an h-bomb. What was more likely was death by suffocation from that same luggage or from one of the 4 suitcases that fell onto my head!

So I’ll never complain about an airplane again, ever! We got moving around 5:00 am and of course there was no diesel in the tank and, how many 24 hours diesel stations are there in Lusaka? We found one and for some reason it took 15 minutes and a fight on the forecourt before we got the 100 litres and hit the road. So here I am, safe in Chipata having survived 9 hours of babies screaming every time they saw the white dude, mothers pushing their babies towards me because they had stopped screaming, 4 bags falling on my head having one loo stop on the road side and the lunatic bus driver swerving towards every car that came towards us to try and shift them over; at 140 km/h. Actually, I should have known something was amiss when I noticed that the bus company was called “Zoooom.” The one hour plane flight back to Lusaka on Friday will be a total anticlimax! Bring it on!

The last three days since arriving in Chipata and flown by. Had a lovely time with Dick and Anita Mumba and their family. They are starting a church and running a little school for street kids. Stayed with them and a delightful 19 year old German girl who is volunteering for 4 months, she has a month to go. It’s pretty basic but they are seeing some real changes in the lives of the kids.

Then I rode the motorbike out to Mchacha village and our good friends Lonard and Rosemary Daka. We had such a great time talking about all the issues they are facing there. They have one of their daughters (Gift) and one of their sons (Steven) working with them so it was fun to see them and hear about the challenges they are facing. This partnership is really growing and facing a lot of pressure from the community to help more people. They are really the only group able to help the people in this district, there is huge poverty and a lot of sick people. We talked about the 100 children being sponsored to school and the 5 adult clients they assist. We then walked 30 minutes to visit one of the families. Such a terrible situation, but much better that a year ago when we started the intervention. We talked about the new churches and the 4 churches that have started orphan care programmes.  I slept two nights in the village, the best sleeps I’ve had for many days. Then I got a taxi back to Chipata airport, just as the vice President was leaving. So I was whisked in to the office of the airport controller so I wouldn’t get mixed up with all the politicians! So I’m sitting here all alone with the power on writing this to you all.

In an hour I take off for Lusaka and I pick up Rob Purdue later this evening. I’ll send this off this evening and try to attach a few pix so you can see what’s been going on. Don’t forget to check out the www.brighthopeworld.com  website and read about some of these partnerships; there will be more detailed reports going on there in the next few days.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen

p.s. I managed to pick Rob up OK from the airport. He has been vomiting on the flight from Perth to Jo’burg. But he’s here safe and we’ve woken up in one piece. I managed to talk to helen last night too so that was nice. Now we have all the reports to write and the e-mails to knock off.

K


waterfalls and volunteers

2008-07-28

I’m in a very rural village in Northern Zambia called Musambeshi. It’s very dark and very quiet and except for the murmur of people chatting in the background it’s eerie. Above, the bright African night sky demands attention. I’m standing outside in the washroom with no roof and no clothes. It’s all very primitive and kind of nice really, no worries, no pressure just outside in nature. Now before you all run to get your cameras, there is a grass wall around the washroom!

It’s been an interesting few days really, lots to see and think about as we visit our friends and partners. Rob and I spent a couple of days a Maplehurst Farm talking with the staff and planning a way forward for the farm. We have stopped making cheese and it is turning out to be an inspired decision. The trends we were reading to make the decision have continued the way we thought so we’re very pleased with that and we have the first finances available for distribution from the farm. Another family is joining the team on the 1st of August so it will be great to be here when they arrive.

We travelled to Mkushi on Tuesday the 22nd and stayed with our good friends Barton and Yvonne Young. It was great to have an amazing meal with them and to also see Delwyn Houghton (NZer teaching at Chengelo School in Zambia, and also Leane Cook (NZer teaching in Tanzania.) we worked with Leane in Zambia way back in the 80s.

The on the Wednesday we headed off to Samfya and on the way visited the partnership at Kaishe. It was great to see the Skills training operating and to talk to some of the people there. We then caught up with Charles the key man in Samfya. There are lots of issues to understand in these types of partnerships and we’re on a steep learning curve.

The Samfya and SCCP, what a great thing is happening in this community. Thousands of lives are being impacted by the involvement of Willow Creek Community church with SCCP. It’s just awesome to visit house after house and hear stories of change. In a distance of one Kilometre we counted 37 gardens being grown by guardian families to supplement their income and food supplies. It’s pretty encouraging. We also visited our friends at Samfya Bible School and helped them deal with a couple of issues.

We talked to our friend Peter Bobo Chomba who leads a partnership across the lake from Samfya in the village of Chaba. It was good to hear about kids going to school and attitudes being changed. He faces some real battles with people in the community who have been very sceptical of his capacity to help them.

On Thursday we travelled north to Kawambwa and a couple of partnerships. We spent two days visiting farms and orphans and hearing the stories of families being helped. There is still so much poverty, but things are improving slowly for many of them. We are very impressed with the potential of cows to provide some real income in this area to help with caring for the orphans and vulnerable.

We’ve now left Musambeshi and are in the city of Kasama in the Northern Province of Zambia. We’re talking to partners here and then tomorrow, Tuesday head back to Maplehurst Farm. Yesterday, Sunday was a long trip on pretty bad roads and we arrived in Kasama filthy. I’ve been wearing the same shirt and trousers for 7 days so it’s very nice to be clean and changed!

Zambia is such a beautiful country. In the last 4 days we have seen 4 magnificent waterfalls, there are certainly none in NZ that even come close in comparison. I’ll include my best shot of each of them in the photo section. Truly, truly magnificent. Ntumba Chushi, then Lumangwe and Kabwelume close together and then Chishimba. We were tempted to swim in a couple of them but the pressure of time!!! The North of Zambia has water for Africa and beauty like it’s difficult to imagine. It was impossible to get the whole waterfall into any of the photos, the falls are just too large to condense.

We had a couple on interesting experiences with the Peace Corps volunteers that have made for interesting thinking in the last couple of days. We gave Andrea a lift from Samfya to another place on Thursday. It was really interesting hear of her experiences living in the African bush for 2 years. In the area where we were visiting some of our partners there is a Peace Corps volunteer. There are about 30 of them in this one Province of Zambia! They are everywhere; we saw six of them in the remotest town you could imagine yesterday as well. We asked our partners for their views on them and they are pretty sceptical. They come with little knowledge, few skills, a great deal of immaturity, and with no resources. So they leave after 2 years and leave nothing behind. I guess they have found themselves to some degree. But in the process many African people have been disappointed and confused. One wonders about the insidious nature of Western culture and why these young people cannot find themselves in their own culture. There is certainly no reason to continue exporting Western crap into Africa and even less to increase the Westernization of rural Africa. They have enough of their own issues to deal with!

Anyway, enough of a sermon from me. I’m really looking forward to more regular contact for the next few days and to writing up all the stuff we’ve discovered. Got heaps of photos too and I’ll have a job to get them all sorted so we can remember which photo goes with which name.

It was great to get an email from Helen last night. I sure hang out for hearing from her. Sounds like she’s been busy visiting people as one would expect!

Thanks for being there for us, we really appreciate the notes, e-mails and contact from you. We also appreciate your prayers as we find ourselves far apart. We hope you have a great week.

Love,

Helen and Kevin


more in Zambia and the conference

2008-08-05

Hey friends

Sorry about the note you got saying there was an update. I was part way through updating the blog and had put a couple do pix on and the internet went down. It’s almost 3 days later and it’s still not working. I can sort of send e-mails but there’s no chance of staying onlone for more than about 1 minute. Sorry for that!!! so i`ve come into and internet cafe to sort it out.

The last week I’ve spent more than a fair share of time on the road. We left Kasama on Tuesday morning after meetings Sunday evening and all day Monday. Way back in the 80s we were involved in helping the start of a new movement in that area helping local guys to get out into the very rural areas to introduce people to Christ. So it was nice to be back and to see many of the guys we know way back in the late 80s, strike, that’s 20 years ago. Must be getting old!!

Anyway, after talks with them about how to develop partnership and listening to their stories we hit the road early. We had a meeting in Mkushi at 12:30 and after 6 hours driving got there on time. Good meetings talking about our partners in Mozambique who came from Zambia. Then back to Maplehurst Farm and diesel shortages. Early Wednesday I left for Chingola and a visit to a partners there and then back to Ndola. Second ticket from the Police, didn’t have my international driving permit!!!! I’ve never in 25 years been asked for it or found a cop that was interested in it. There times that day I was asked it, 30th of the month, the Police are short of money to pay the wages!!

I visited our friends the Nkausus. They used to work for us in Zambia and now he is the pastor of a little Baptist Church, they are looking after 12 little orphans who come to the church. The eldest daughter has been diagnosed HIV+ and she is the key person here. She is very sick and has just commenced ARTs, but can’t afford to eat well enough. We ate well for lunch that day though, Grace is a great cook. We talked about the difficulties they are facing and how important it was not to lose hope.  I was able to help by setting up a pig raising project and left them doing some research on a chicken layer project to fund the orphans and the family.

Back to Maplehurst farm, 14 hours on the road and meeting people that day, called past GLO Zambia, the place we were involved with in the 80s, on the way back. Since then it’s been preparing for the AGM of the Company that owns and  runs Maplehurst Farm, I’m the chairman, and preparing for two seminars we are running at a Conference, we deliver that on Sunday morning.

Thursday we spent the morning visiting two schools we are about to commence supporting. We’ll be helping with a daily feeding programme and to supplement the wages of the teachers. It was lovely to see the kids all looking so well. They have been dosed for worms and now at least will get one good meal a day. it was the last day of term so they were all excited, they were going to see the Jesus Film before leaving for the holidays. I’ve put a few photos of some of them.

A new family from NZ and Oz arrived yesterday. They are going to take over the running of the farm in a couple of months. It’s nice to see them here after more than a year engaging with them. I’ll put a picture of them on the blog with this.

It’s Saturday afternoon and it’s windy and quite cool. I’ve still got some prep to do for tomorrow and I’ll go out for a walk around the farm as the sun goes down. The All Blacks thrashed the Wallabies so that’s great, made Saturday anyway.

It’s been interesting reflecting on the last week. Last blog I was lamenting the influence of the west on Africa this time I’m going to have a shot at the Chinese. You cannot believe the number of Chinese working here now; the local people dislike them intensely. Everywhere you go they are at work, new buildings, wiring the whole country for fast internet, building roads and railways. It’s all go here I tell you. The number of trucks on the road and the new mines being built are largely servicing the growth of China. There are rumours of men coming in shipping containers illegally. It is feared by the locals that they have designs on this part of the world, it wouldn’t surprise me. Ask the question about Zimbabwe, who is standing behind Robert Mugabe, the vicious brute with over a billion dollars in his bank account. Where did the guns destined for Zimbabwe a few months ago come from? There are things afoot here that should concern the world. The locals are concerned with the impact all this is having.

Despite all this, the church continues to grow and thrive. The conference this week is about sending people from Africa out into the world as the next wave of Christian missionaries. Awesome, the dream continues.

Thanks for your support.  Helen is having a lovely weekend with Sara, wedding plans. It’s only 3 weeks till Jared and Ruth get back to NZ and not long till we are grandparents. It’s a full on year the rest of it. Looking forward to getting back to NZ. This time next week we’ll be in Ethiopia and it will only be a couple of days till the trip home. I’ll be in touch again before that.

i`ve just spent the weekend at a conference with about 400 people from all over the workd, mostly zambians of course. it`s been great to hear the stories of people doing great things for God and making a difference in the lives of many people. had a great time hearing the stories of people as well. two pastors from Zimbabwe told us a lot about the situation there and opened up some partnership opportunities, so that`s great. we`ll be following them up and probably visiting next year.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen


a quieter week and stuck in Addis

2008-08-09

Rob and I woke this morning at 4:45 to get the plane to Gondar. We arrived in Addis Ababa from Lusaka at about 10 last night and it was after 11:00 by the time we got to the hotel. It was a pretty sleepless night, way too short. Anyway, it’s 10 am and we’re still sitting in the airport at Addis Ababa. We took off Ok and were just coming tin to land at Gondar and the announcement came that it was too wet to land but we would go to the next destination, land there and then come back to Gondar and land. OK, a couple of hours late!! No sooner had the first announcement finished than the second one started, sorry, back to Addis, the airport at Axum is closed too. So here we are, waiting in another airport!!! One can do without that sort of hassle frankly, and what will we do if the same thing happens on Monday and we’re stuck in Gondar and can’t catch our plane back to Addis, or Jo’burg and home? I guess we’ll find out won’t we!!

F*** charity, try something that works!!! What about that for the title of a documentary and my blog! On the flight to Addis from Lusaka I was talking to a film crew that has just been doing a documentary in Ethiopia and Malawi. They were really fired up at what they had seen in a couple of interesting child feeding and nutrition programmes. And they were very critical of the way aid is being delivered into Africa. They were especially critical of the big names that came here to adopt kids and make out like they genuinely cared. VERY cynical, I might have used the same words if my faith hadn’t modified my language!! My sentiments exactly.  It continues to pour down outside and the airport is filling up, not many planes going out, people still coming in, most of them looking lost or bewildered or something....

Since last weekend we’ve been based at Maplehurst farm most of the time. We’ve been having meetings with the team at the farm and developing strategy. So it’s been good to have a little less travel for a bit and to be able to catch up with e-mails and reports. The internet has been out for most of the time so we’ve gone into town a few times to communicate.  The farm is starting to really get into shape. There is a very clear pathway forward and the new family are keen as mustard to get into is. We’ve got a lot of work do on creating a better dam and breaking in a fair percentage of the farm that’s not being used effectively at the moment.  So it’s been the regular grind of reports, not my favourite task.

We had some good news in the middle of it, we had been travelling the previous week with a guy and he’s looking at investing a large amount of funds over the next few years, so that’s a blessing. Out in the partnerships the increases in prices are really hurting, so to get someone willing to invest large amounts it takes the pressure off somewhat.

Newsflash

Well the bad news is that we are still in Addis Ababa because they cancelled the flight till tomorrow morning. The good news; can’t think of any really, yet! So we’re in the process of making a few changes to see if we can still reschedule the programme.  It’s such a pain, we’ve spent heaps of money to come there and we’re hardly going to see anything. We’ll see what God can do.

So dear friends, I’ll try to update you again as soon as I know something about our plans. but at the moment we are due to head off tomorrow morning at 11:00. that will just give us 24 hours in the place we planned to go. Don`t think I`ll come here in the rainy season again. if you don`t hear from me then we`re off to Gondar tomorrow morning.

Love to you all

Kevin


Addis Ababa, mmmmmmmmmmmmm

2008-08-11

The saga continues.... it’s coming up midday Sunday and Rob and I are still sitting in Addis Ababa airport. We were told to report at 9:00 am after the flight on Saturday was cancelled about midday Saturday. We found a hotel that had internet and spent the afternoon writing more reports and strategising and then Mekashaw came to visit us at the hotel. We went out for coffee and spent the late afternoon talking to him about the way things are developing in the partnership. This is getting expensive.

You meet some interesting people in airports, I’m sick of talking to Rob; we’ve been travelling for 3 weeks together! I spent about 20 minutes talking to a group of Ugandan guys who were on their way back to Uganda from Iraq. They have been doing security work for a private security company. They were all doing it to get enough money together for study or to look after their families. They had lost a couple of mates while there in the last 6 months. One guy was so keen to get home, he has a 4 month old daughter he has never seen and his family did not know he was returning. It was all going to be a big surprise. Strangely not one of the 7 knew much about Christianity and were not really interested. “If you had seen what we’ve seen there could not be a God......” hard to debate that one in an airport.

I also chatted to an elderly little Sri Lankan nun who had been working amongst the poor in Ethiopia for 32 years. A lovely woman with such a heart of compassion, she had her faith fully in Jesus and was very concerned that the street kids she worked with would discover real faith. “Nothing else will break the cycle of death and oppression in their lives.”

Not sure what’s going to happen here now. If this plane is further delayed it’s not going to be worth going to Gonder to sleep the night there! But now we can’t get our luggage out, oh man, why are we here?

It was great to get the internet working well last night and to catch up on stuff. Fortunately it’s pretty quiet and it is the weekend so no one is replying. So that’s great until everyone replies!!!

It gets worse, the plane finally was ready to go at 4:00, by that time we had made the decision to bail out. So it’s 9:30 at night on Sunday and we’ve spent from 5:30 am on Saturday till after 4 on Sunday waiting at the airport when not at the hotel. The lessons? Don’t come to Ethiopia in the rainy season and don’t come just for 4 days! So now it’s hang around here till Tuesday morning. We’ll make a plan in the morning but we have one guy to see and we’ll have a look at some sights. The weather is cold and wet so it’s all a bit miserable.

The week after getting back to NZ I’ve got to speak at a conference for pastors so I’ve been preparing for that and writing reports. Pretty boring stuff really, but I just wanted you guys to know that it’s not all fun and games out here. There’s a fair deal of disappointment and the need for some fortitude at times.

Monday, and it seems we’ve been here for weeks but it’s only a couple of days. All we’ve seen is the inside of a couple hotel rooms and the airport, apart from being with Mekashaw of course, our contact in Addis Ababa. He is such a nice guy. I keep saying it all the time, but our partners are such great people, most of them are gentle, godly, compassionate men and women. It’s so great to be able to work with them.

We spent the day doing emails and at 12:00 went off to visit a local Coptic Church. Very strange to be surrounded by hundreds of white clad devotees chanting, bowing, kneeling and prostrating themselves towards the church building as the priest intoned the liturgy. It’s all done in a language only the priests know, but they have all learned the ritual and don’t miss a beat. Then we went over to the Piazza and had a magnificent Ethiopian coffee and bought some bring back to NZ for sampling. Hey, if you haven’t tried Bright Hope World’s, La Mai coffee from Thailand, get onto the website and order some. Great for gifts and for regular drinking yourself or with friends. You need to read the story too to understand why we’re doing it. www.brighthopeworld.com  I’ll be off up there later in the year to check out the growing of it.

Anyway, after our coffee shot and waiting out a huge downpour, we headed off to the Mercato Market, one of the largest in Africa. It is teeming with people all trying to outwit the white man. We bought a few bits and pieces as gifts and samples. There are some very unique Ethiopian crafts and vibrant colours, some pretty nice but a lot pretty tacky. Also a huge trade in Coptic icons and silver Lalibela crosses. Mekashaw showed us around and protected us; the people were actually very friendly as they tried to fleece us. Then we went over to the office of the ministry we are working with and checked out how the accounting is done and met the new accountant. She seems very efficient and I was really happy with the systems I observed. Unfortunately the power was off so we couldn’t open up the computer.

Now we are back at the hotel waiting for the power to come back on. Should be here in a few minutes and we’ll catch the news before heading off to dinner. At 6:45, sunset the Moslem prayer chant went up, just like at 5 this morning. Fortunately I was awake at 4:00 am.

Oh well, I’ll sign off now. I’ll be in touch again when I get home. It’s been a long time away and am looking forward to being back in NZ with Helen and the family. We keep saying we won’t do this long again but one can hardly come all the way here for a couple of days! Thanks for the prayer, the contact and the friendship.

Blessings

Kevin Honore

 


family and politics

2008-08-26

hi there friends it`s us again after a couple of weeks break.

Kevin got back home OK after many hours in the previous days spent in airports!!! grrrrr. airports are terrible places to spend your life! It`s nice ot be back at home with each other and family. Awesome. A week later Jared and Ruth flew in so it was back to the airport and lovely to see them, though Ruth is much larger than the last time we saw her! It`s great to have them staying with us and to have time with them. It`s only 7 weeks till the baby is due, grandparents... new phase of life, don`t feel old enough really.

After getting back, we went off to Taupo for a few days. The weather was cold but beautiful, -4 degrees at night, we can do without that. Kevin spoke at a Pastors` retreat and concentrated on the Gospel of Luke and the poor. It seemed to go well though everyone was very nice! it was great to spend some time with people we have known for a long time.

Politics has been an inevitable part of the last little while for us and i`d like to highlight a few issues, mainly on behalf of our partners:

1) Myanmar- many of our partners ar still struggling with the outcomes of cyclone Nargis a few months ago. There are many people still needing help, we have just heard of 1,000s of people heading across the border into India for assistance.

2) Nepal- when we were there earlier in the year the Maoists had just got into power, this could have implications for the Christians there. There are ongoing issues to deal with and hopefully our friends will not be compromised. We are just about to start a new partnership there and we are hoping it won`t be hampered.

3) Pakistan - elections are looming and there is a lot of unrest. Kevin has an application in for a visa to visit ther early in october. So we`ll need to keep our eyes on this one as he is due to visit Lahore and Islamabad to see the start of a new partnership and investigate another new one.

4) Zambia - the President has died and there is a state of mournng as his body is travelling around the country. President Levi Mwanawasa was a good man and did his best to deal with corruption. new elections are due for November so pray for stability and a good person to lead the country. We have more partners in Zambia than any other country.

The next few days are family days. Thursday evening the extended family is coming around for a welcome for Jared and Ruth. J and R have just met Karl, Sara`s fiancee, so there is lots of catching to do and lots of fun. We are so blessed. Along with that we are working at setting up the next trip away.

It`s less than two weeks until Kevin heads off again. not looking forward to that one. He has 4 days in Dallas, USA; then 5 days in Kenya; 12 days in uganda and then 4 days in Pakistan getting back to NZ on the 8th Ocotber. Along with that there are many hours on planes and in airports..... fun!!!!! We still depend on you guys to be there with us and without you this would be a disaster. So again, thanks for being on the journey with us.

The increasing costs our friends are facing out there is really starting to hurt. Food has doubled in price since the beginning of the year and is still continuing to go up. So they are very concerned. Even for us the costs are going for the roof as we seek to be out there and helping them. I can`t imagine how difficult it must be for them if it`s like this for us.

We`re about to head out to visit our Ethipian friend in Auckland, Worku. We`re putting together a proposal to take to the church in Dallas. We`re planning ways we can set the work there up so it can be self funding within 5 years from now. Planning a school and micro-enterprise loan schemes and the like, so that will be fun. It means a trip into Auckland. So we`ll say goodbye for now and well be in touch before Kevin heads off into the blue on the 8th September.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen


4 weeks, 4 continents

2008-09-07

early Monday morning, 8th September, 2008

Kevin leaves in a couple of hours for the airport and away on the next trip. Four weeks away and we never look forward to the day of leaving. it`s horrible, like being ripped apart. not a nice feeling at all. The good news is that this is going to be th elast trip this year.

Rob Purdue and Kevin decided over the weekend that we will can the next trip to Asia and push it back into next year. So that`s a bonus for us, disappointing for the people we were going to visit.

anyway, check out the Our Maps tab and you`ll see the itinerary for this trip. The time in the USA this week will be talking about and planning concerning the Ethiopia partnerships. you can check them out on the Bright Hope World website, www.brighthopeworld.com. after that Kevin is in Kenya and Uganda so you could check out all the partnerships in those countries and then there is one in Pakistan, that`s on the website too. while you`re there check out the La Mai coffee and order some, the story is great, so is the coffee. we`ve exported 16 tonnes of coffee to the USA and i`ll be checking that out while there too. the church in Dallas in distributing and using it. we`re also looking at opportunities to get coffee from Ethiopia a well.

you`ll see from the itinerary that almost half the time away is going to be in Uganda. We have great partners there and they are spread in different places, so it`s going to take some time to get around them. Kevin also wants a bit of time to write things up as he goes otherwise everything blurs together and it`s easy to forget things.

the last 3 weeks have flown past. there has been a lot of preparation required for the time in Dallas as we have a couple of big deals to try and land for the guys there. but it`s been fantastic to have Jared and Ruth home and staying with us. Ruth is growing by the day and is only five and a half weeks away from the birth date. We spent yesterday afternoon with Sara sorting out menu things at the venue for her wedding, that`s less than 3 months away now so it`s all winding up. awesome, all very exciting.

the worst part of this trip is that K has to spend a whole day in Amsterdam, a whole day in Dubai and a whole day in Kuala Lumpur. in all cases he arrives early in the morning and leaves late in the evening. when you go to funny places you don`t have the luxury of lots of flight to choose from. so he`ll be doing a bit of sight seeing or sleeping in the airports for the day!

so friends, 30 sleeps till Kevin is back in NZ again. looking forward to that already! Helen will be busy around the place and has a part time job at a local pre school, that will be fun for her and a good opportunity to meet local people. we`re sure looking forward to travelling together again next year and to not having these dreaded goodbyes all the time.

look forward to sharing the next 4 weeks with you all

Helen and Kevin 


in Amsterdam and heading for Kenya

2008-09-13

hi there guys

it`s Saturday evening here in Amsterdam. i`ve been here in the airport for 12 hours already so it`s getting a little tiresome! spent the day sleeping and reading and doin a few e-mails. been so tired and hardly slept since leaving NZ.

hd a great time in the US with our friends at Chase Oaks church. i think you have to be slightly crazy to be on the staff there, unless they just get the crazy ones to talk to me! no, they`re great and it was nice to spend time with people so passionate about the lost and the poor as the whole leadership team is. i just got out of Texas before Hurricane Ike struck. much later and the airport would have been affected. while here it was the anniversary of 9/ 11 so the TVs were full of those two events.

but great to be able to work with the guys there on the Ethiopia partnership. there are some good things happening. we`re working on the possibility of developing a large school to generate income o fund the ongoing development. so lots of talking and plotting.

now it`s off to Africa. vlue your prayers on this one. a couple of tricky situations to deal with when i get to Uganda. but i`ll talk about that next t time i contact you. am missing Helen terribly, i just hate being away but not a lot of options this time unfortunately.

just thought i`d drop you all a note while i have access to internet.

blessings to you all

Kevin and Helen (who has just watched the All Blacks beat the Wallabies and the Tri Nations and the Bledisloe.......


Nairobi and Tala

2008-09-18

Hi there from Nairobi,

last day here and the last few days have been great. Got to Nairobi early on Sunday morning and went to where Jude Goatley lives. Jude has worked with us in Bright Hope for many years based in Africa. We’ve had more adventures that you could poke a stick at. But, she’s doing a year of study in Nairobi and loves it. So we chatted for most of the morning about how things were going for her and then about some of the partnerships. She has recently returned from a trip to many of our Ugandan partnerships so it was catch-up time. I discovered there that I had lost my main credit card so had to search everything twice to see if I’d just left it in a pocket or something, no, couldn’t find it.

I was pretty tired as I’d flown from Amsterdam overnight and hadn’t slept much. The week of moving in this direction around the world had not allowed the old body to catch up. Anyway, best thing was to stay awake until night time. Around midday another old friend flew into Nairobi, Ken Rout, with whom I’ve shared even more adventures in Africa. After lunch we shot off to the place we were staying, a nice apartment in a nice part of Nairobi. So we chatted about the partnerships we were working on and caught up on the stuff we would do while together.


lovely kids and rotten roads

2008-09-23

Hey there

It’s Sunday morning the 21st September. I’ve just finished breakfast in Lira in the North of Uganda, the sun is shining, the trees are a brilliant green, washed clean by the rain last night. The congregation of a church is singing in African style somewhere not to far away. It makes it seem unreal, the horrors these people have faced in the last few years at the hands of the LRA. It’s hard to forget the atrocities when playing with the kids last night in the house into which we have been able to rescue 28 of them from the horror. The stories are too graphic to publish though if you go to the BHW website you will read some of it, check out project number UGA03a.

They are such beautiful children who laugh and giggle infectiously whenever here is even the hint of a joke or something slightly funny. Buried deep in many of their minds are the atrocities of abduction, rape, torture and death. Now they are experiencing security and stability and it shows in their faces.

I left Nairobi on Thursday after spending the day with Jude Goatley. Ken Rout left early in the morning and headed off to Ghana. I met with a new partner and then Jude and I talked about some plans and the partners I was about to visit. She had just been to see some of them so it was important to get on the same page, especially about the finances. In one of them there is a bit of work to be done in the area of leadership, so there will be some interesting discussions there when I arrive.

Then off to Entebbe and Kampala. It’s much warmer in Uganda than Nairobi. Got to the hotel and slept well. Had the next day off really, didn’t hardly open the computer apart from a couple of hours in a cyber cafe. Travelled there and back on the back of a boda boda, motorbike with a lunatic for a driver! After the cafe I came back to the headquarters of the Watoto Children’s ministry. Some of you may have heard them singing, they have just been or are still in New Zealand. Met with a kiwi girl there, Desiree Stewart; she’s a nurse helping to set up some great stuff with the kids and the families. Anyway, Desiree’s mum gave me some stuff to take to her so was able to deliver it. We had lunch together; it was great to about her journey and the things she was doing there. It’s great to see young people so passionate about following Jesus and serving the poor.

Kind of just laxed out in the afternoon. Did a few phone calls to setup the rest of my time here in Uganda. In the evening Anna came in from Mbale. She’s the liaison person for this partnership in visiting right now. We stayed the night and overnight it started raining, not a good thing when travelling!! Early next morning after breakfast we braved the rain and the rip-off taxi driver to get the bus to Lira. We waited an hour before leaving and finally left at 10. It was pretty uncomfortable I have to say, the seats were pretty small and were not made to fit. Sat next to an older guy whose wife had died the night before and he was going home to organise the funeral, been married 49 years.

After 6 hours we got to Lira. Uganda is such a beautiful country, the beauty covers so much evil I’m afraid. We arrived at the chaotic bus stop and found a taxi to take us to the house where the kids live. It was lovely to see them after being involved with them for 4 years. Some of our other personnel have been here, first time for me. Just lovely kids and they all came in to shake hands, the girls going down on their knees to do that. They sang a song and we prayed together. They told me that they pray for Bright Hope every day and thank God for us. They call me father cause I was the one who rescued them, well at least confirmed that we should do this project. It would be nice for Helen to have been here to share the moment. we might have taken a few home with us though! This kind of incident makes all the hassles worthwhile at a personal level. It started raining in the evening and at 9 o’clock we had to walk the 300 metres to the little hotel where I am staying; there is no room in the house at the moment. I fell flat on my face in the mud as we stumbled along the so called road so arrived back at the hotel filthy.

Anyway, Sunday has dawned fine, warm and cloudy; I fear another wet afternoon and walk home in the dark tonight! Off to spend the day with the kids, telling them stories and sharing with them and finalising the shape of this partnership for the next year. I saw CNN news this morning at breakfast, 60 people killed in a bomb explosion in Islamabad, thinking I’ll be there in 10 days. Might be safer to stay here and walk home in the rain at night

The Acholi people group, Northern Uganda, these are the ones who have most greatly suffered at the hands of the LRA. Thousands of their people were hurt, disfigured, butchered and kidnapped by the lunatic Kony and his criminal henchmen. These kids are in this project because of him. In the morning I spent some time talking to the kids and encouraging them. Then around 1 pm a strange noise arrived at the gate and team of Acholi dancers burst in upon us. They are from an existing Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp; they cannot go home to their villages. There are too many ghosts, memories and horrors out there. So they have stayed in town, it’s better than the option of going home. They sang traditional songs and danced like I have rarely seen. Between the energy sapping dances and songs some of them told their stories. Some of the songs were about the LRA and the horrors, in one they plead with the government to send a helicopter to chase the criminals and get them. But the disappointment comes after the song when they explain the government did nothing. The guy has still not been brought to justice; he’s as much a terrorist as Osama bin Laden.

One woman had her husband hacked to pieces in front of her and put into a sack. One young guy showed me the seeping bullet wound from 8 years previous. How do you deal with that stuff? How do you ever live a normal life again when this is your experience? These songs are therapy for them, one of the women dancers will need some other sort of therapy after the dancing I saw! It seemed like each of her body parts could act independently of each other!! Amazing stuff and pretty scary, I reckon these guys would be great responding to a haka some time!

At around 4:30 we sat down for lunch! It’s really funny in Africa. No-one really tells you what is going to happen. I’ve found out that lunch was late because they were expecting the mayor but there was something else on in town so he was delayed. There is to be a programme starting at 1:00 pm, it’s now 5:00 and there is little sign of the programme! Never mind, one comes prepared to fill in time when one needs too. I’ve talked to a few people and have put a whole bunch of photos into the computer and tagged them and now I’m updating the blog. I want to have it all written up so when I get back to Kampala I can send it straight off. Who know what time I’ll get back to Kampala?

(the programme staarted at 5:15 and finished at7:00 after a speech from everyone and items galore! so much for the strategy meeting we were going to have!)

It’s now Tuesday evening and the days have flown. Got back to Kampala after a brute of a trip, the road was not bad apart from about 20 kms of road works with speed bumps every 50 metres. I was in the back of the bus as the centre seat was the only one with any leg room. We hit these speed bumps and all 7 of us in the back seat were launched into the stratosphere only to land as the bus hit the next bump!!! We are all lucky we didn’t lose our back teeth. The driver obviously had strange parents; normal people do not raise kids like that! We got back at 6:00 to hit the “jam.” Kampala stops from about 5:30 – 7:30. You Aucklanders think you have it bad!!!

Managed to talk to Helen last night so that was cool. Slept well and then spent the day at a lakeside village called Katosi. We have been sponsoring a feeding programme in a school hostel where most of them are orphans and vulnerable kids. We also assist the payment of teacher’s wages. It was lovely to see the kids looking so well and healthy. The US office of Bright Hope provided mozzie nets and this has had a great impact. The number of kids going to the clinic has dropped from 10 per day to around 2 and now hardly any malaria. Cool eh. I’ll let you know when this partnership is updated on the web and you can check it out. I’ve put a couple of pix up too for you to check out.

So now I’m back in Kampala, hit the jam again! Spent 3 ½ hours on bad roads today so that’s an improvement. Tomorrow I’m off to Jinja, 100 kms up the road and the source of the Nile River, one of the two Nile Rivers. Hopefully Helen will ring again tonight. Sure missing the family.

Love to you all

Kevin


about to leave Uganda

2008-09-30

I spent Wednesday travelling to Jinja and interviewing a very interesting couple. Thomas and Joyce are refugees from Sudan and have found themselves leading a church in the town of Jinja. Most of them are very poor people, misfits and refugees and people who are in transition, looking for employment or schooling, so they are very poor. The weekly offering is about 4,000 Uganda shillings, or 3 dollars. You can’t survive as a pastor with an offering that size. Their real problem is that they have a real desire to serve God in Sudan. So they head off there frequently and this has placed real pressure on their finances. So, they go and teach and train and have actually started a school. Of course they don’t have a great base of support to develop this thing. Thomas is the kind of guy who is an incorrigible visionary, while he’s doing one thing he’s thinking of the next. So I had to spend a bit of time trying sort out a realistic strategy. They are so inspiring and full of faith. Check out SUD01 on the Bright Hope World website?

The local Muslim dude is crying out at the moment. It’s the last couple of days of Ramadan and the fast for the day has ended. Africa is such an interesting place. This time last night I was sitting out in the dark watching the blazing Milky Way above screaming out the glory of God. You’ve got to see the night sky in Africa at least once in your life.

Anyway, caught another bus early on Thursday from Jinja to Busia; Busia is a dirty border town between Kenya and Uganda. You can buy almost anything here, booze, sex, chinese knock offs and if you really want one, a child will cost you about $US15!! Life is dirt cheap. Met a couple of guys there for a meeting and spent the night in the Rand Hotel. It’s actually not that grand, but it’s got clean sheets. No water, no power, but clean sheets. Next morning got a motor bike out to the village, Bihoya. it had been raining so i had to walk some of the way, it waas that or another experience wiht the stick mud of Africa. Spent the two and a half days there in meetings. We have some stuff to sort out in this place. Spent the time yakking with the key people sorting out stuff and then Sunday morning I had to preach to the church. So now I’m back at the Rand hotel and there are clean sheets and the power is on. Awesome.

Tomorrow morning I have to get up at 5:30 to try and catch a bus back to Kampala. So it could be a pretty long day though it’s not actually that far, but you never know, Africa can surprise you.

I’ve got to say, Uganda is probably the most difficult place I have ever had to try and do partnership. People think so differently here, different even from other parts of Africa. There is just so much fear around, everyone is so jealous of everyone else. People are murdered at a whim and the local communities will not surrender them to the police. A guy like Kony murders thousands of innocent children and the government tries to broker a treaty with him! Truth is so far down the list of what’s important. Pastors are often arrogant fools who buy large cars and houses and who are constantly lampooned in the press for their lack of integrity. It’s such a strange place. I’m just starting to understand how different it is. It would be really easy to just pull out of here and move on to somewhere else, it’s just so, so different. The gaps in understanding and expectations are so wide I’m not sure I have the energy to continue it. So, there’s a bit for us to consider.

It’s now late on Monday evening, the eve of Eid on the Moslem calendar. It’s a holiday tomorrow so the internet should be a little faster than today. There is a huge celebration going on just over the fence, I feel it’s going to be a late night. I started this morning at 5:30, walking up the 2 km road to the border to catch a bus. Surprise,  about 500 metres up the road a 4WD stopped in the dark and the driver asked if I wanted a ride to Kampala, of course, what a stupid question. So I got to Kampala in just over 3 hours, it could have been a couple of hours more on a bus, especially with the wait for a bus to come etc. It took another hour to cross the city because of the traffic jam, but it’s not bad. Went to the internet cafe and found 15mb to download! 5 hours later I emerged and headed off to the hotel.

Helen rang this evening it was great to chat for a few minutes before her time ran out. Only 9 sleeps till I’m home. yay. Still a bit of work to do though. A lot of writing to do in the next few hours before I leave here Wed afternoon for Dubai and Pakistan. I`ve got a day with friends in Dubai, some of you will know Walter and GIllian Raymond from Chch. An update about them next time.

So, enjoy the pix I’ve put in here, a few shots of some of the friends I made on the trip to Katosi and Busia.

Love

Kevin and Helen


heading home, slowly

2008-10-06

Hey there

I’m in Kuala Lumpur airport for 12 hours and am trying to catch up on the backlog of stuff I haven’t written so an update that I’ll finish when I get home to NZ. After leaving Uganda had good flight to Dubai and got through immigration quickly. Our friends Walter and Gillian Raymond said they would look after me for the day which was nice, good to be with some familiar faces. An Indian taxi driver met me and drove to their place in Al Ain, 90 minutes away. It was 3 am by the time we got to bed. Slept in a little and then had  look round Al Ain, it’s an interesting place. Then bck to Dubai and a wander around the Souks (markets for an hour before dinner and back to the airport. They were picking up someone else so that worked out well. thanks Walter and Gillian for a nice interlude.

I arrived in Lahore, Pakistan, from Dubai at 2:25 am. Long queues meant I didn’t get through Immigration until 3:40 and low and behold, no suitcase, lost somewhere between Kampala and Lahore, probably sitting in Dubai. So, I found the people who were waiting for me to assure them that I had arrived and went back in to fill out forms. 30 minutes laterI emerged with all the relevant documentation; and was showered with garlands and flower petals. It looked like I’d just arrived back from the Haj! We drove 30 minutes in a crowded little bus and arrived at the house of Rev. and Mrs. Manzoor Jalal. By now it was after 4:00 and since I had not got into bed until after 3:00 last night in Al Ain, I was pretty tired I have to say. Evidently a whole lot more people had come to meet me but the security only allowed 6 of them to remain! So much for a low key entry!

Got up at around 7:45, though the clock on the wall said 8:45. Checked and updated the time on the computer and it confirmed I was right. A couple of hours later I had a discussion about the real time. The young guy said I was wrong..... oh yea, the government changed to a couple of weeks ago but no one really follows it. So which time do I use? “Don’t worry,” he said!!! OK for you, but you don’t have to be anywhere that matters if you’re an hour late! I have since discovered that it’s the original time that everyone works to. They took my one spare shirt away to wash and we had breakfast. Then father went off to officiate at a wedding that would take an hour. Is that an old hour or a new hour? Anyway, about 15 of their key people came and we spent about 2 hours discussing the opportunities and issues they are facing. They are quite a clear thinking group and don’t want any handouts.

It was a nice day meeting great people. Just around the corner from the Manzoor house , literally 75 metres away is another house with a church in it. Unfortunately I was there for one day and it was the Friday after Eid, so there were no students in. Six days a week from early morning till evening, two shifts of 16 students learn sewing in the upper floor of the house and then Sunday, 80 people meet there for church. So I visited the church where the programme is held and met the key pastor and his family in whose house the church and training operates.

Their names are Almas and Rafaqat Almas, they have 5 lovely children:

·         Sabah 19, a beautiful girl studying for a BA. She wants to be in pastoral ministry like her father

·         Gohar 17, wants to be an engineer. Little chance as only 500 are selected each year from 15,000 applications

·         Madeeha, 15 and a sweet girl wants to be a doctor

·         Zarqar  is 13 a she too wants to be  doctor

·         and Dawood, 6, full of mischief and of course wants to be a policeman

Every one of them would leave Pakistan at the drop of a hat if they had the opportunity.

Poverty is a real and basic problem in the community, especially for Christians who have little access to employment. The Christian young people face criticism and lack of opportunity for education, often because their parents cannot afford to educate them well. If there was no course of training like this the women would be forced in menial, labouring jobs for little pay and they would become very vulnerable. It would be unlikely they would ever get permanent employment.

The project here started in July with 32 students. There is one trainer and she trains both shifts of 16 that come to the course. The students cannot afford to pay fees. 5 of them are from Muslim backgrounds and as the course progresses more and more Muslims will come. It is a great opportunity to speak to and encourage those who are attending; the Christian message is not forced on them.

Saturday, I was ready to go to the bus to Islamabad at 8am, which was the agreement. We were going to ring the airport on the way to see if the bag had arrived. If I didn’t get it here there would be little chance of getting it ever again I reckoned. At 10:30 I was still sitting in the lounge to go, it cannot be that hard for 5 people to organise a taxi! I hope this is not an indication of their capacity to organise something.

The taxi arrived, but, it was involved in an accident on the way and now the police are involved. Despite the pleas of the driver that it was OK, the guys refused him and then had to find another taxi. At 11 we are finally rolling along the way to the bus station and the phone rings..... my bag has arrived. Detour to the airport. It wasn’t too hard to find it, pretty organised really and I had great delight giving it a hug and a kiss when it rolled into my arms!! The guys were pretty amused.

So back we travelled to the bus park. I was expecting to end up in a place a little like the chaos of Kampala and frankly I was not looking forward to the next 6 hours. But, it was as organised as anything in the West, clean toilets in the terminal, clear instructions, and an air-conditioned bus that left exactly on time. The first two hours were pretty uneventful. They take a photo of every passenger in their seat before you leave... what’s all that about. We stopped for refreshment break, KFC and McDs, as well as clean toilets, amazing. Hopped back on the bus and a young Muslim guy beckoned me to come and sit beside him. Soon I was surrounded by 4 young guys all of whom were cousins. They were so funny and we talked and laughed all the next 3 hours to Islamabad. They had been away for a holiday for a week and were going home. We talked about life in Pakistan and New Zealand, we talked about cricket, George Bush (I’m glad I’m a NZer,) the problems with terrorism and the great place that Pakistan is. They wanted to know about Christianity and why Christians were so lose morally. They are very angry about terrorism and the way Muslims and Pakistan is portrayed. The most articulate one said Pakistan is not poor, the people are. There is gold in abundance but because of their location on the map, between India, China, Afghanistan and Iran they spend 75 – 80% of their budget on the military; 3% is spent on education!!!

They work in a family brick making business based up in the city of Hari Pur in the North West Frontier Province on the road to China. It has the most fantastic natural beauty they assured me and I must see it with my wife before I die. The business is run by their fathers and there are 34 cousins working together in the business. In total the company employs about 400 people and all the bricks are made by hand with no machinery. I have a firm invitation to go and stay with them next time in Pakistan. On arrival in Islamabad they gave me big hugs and insisted I come to visit. I introduced them to my friend who was there to meet me in Islamabad and he will go there and visit them some time and we may go and see them one trip too. It was such a funny encounter, I’m glad I came. Thanks Saeed, Taheer, Sultan and Hasham!

I`ll put up a few pix and finish writing the trip in a few days

love

Kevin and Helen


home and loving it

2008-10-12

Hi there friends

It`s great to be home in NZ with Helen and the family. For some reason this last trip seemed to take a long time for Kevin, except for the last week. since getting home Kevin hasn`t been feeling that well, just a travel bug we suspect. Went down to Hamilton Sunday to speak at a church that is planning to come to Thailand next year.

This time last week I was still in Islamabad. left on the Monday evening after an interesting few days there. Our friends there, Azam and Barabara are a lovely couple and I enjoyed the stay in their home as well as Barbara`s Biryani`s. She`s a great hostess and cook!

I arrived in Islamabad Saturday at around 6:00 pm after my bus trip with my 4 Moslem mates. The opening of the sewing centre was schduled to start at 6 as well so i suggested we just go straight there. But no, we had to cruise home, have a shower, something to eat and then drive the 27 kms to the site. It must have been close to 8:00 pm by the time we got there. There was a big crowd of people, the local Moslem politician and heaps of ribbons and decorations. We had a few songs, a couple of speeches, I had to speak for 15 minutes and then the ribbon was cut, then of course the obligatory food. If I had to descible my job it would have to include, eating at official functions. It`s one of the major components of the task. so if you want my job, you`ll have to develop a cast iron stomach, an ability to consume large amounts of rice and other carbo-hydrates and an ability to say nice things about sometimes suspect delicacies. But I have to say, I really enjoyed Pakistani food.

We got home around 11:30 that evening and into bed a little after that. Sunday was an interesting day. We went back to the same place as the sewing centre for church at which I preached and then back to Azam and Barbara`s for lunch and anonther lovely meal. It was lovely to meet all the christians there and was amazed at the number of children there are in the church. I worked a bit on reporting in the afternoon and then headed out to a place called Rawat to meet in a small house church. These people are very poor in terms of Pakistan, many of them cannot read and there seems to be a spiritual malaise in the Christian community. They have lost hope of ever escaping poverty and we spent quite a lot of time talking to them about what can be done about that. I shared with them for 45 minutes or so and then we cam home to another lovely meal! On the way we visited some other families in their homes who are wanting to get baptised.

Monday morning we were back at the church and visiting the sewing centre with the students. This project has only been running a few weeks so it was good to see the progress and development. I interviewed some fo the participants and their stories will come up on the Bright Hope World website in the next few days so check them out? We than had a quick drive around Islamabad and Rawalpindi, quite beautiful twin cities and got back home. One needs to remember that this is a dangerous place and Azam pointed out the place where two years ago someone tried to blow up the President and the site, quite close to where they live, where Benazir Bhutto was assasinated in December last year. The day after I left there was another bomb went off in Islamabad.

So, after lunch i did a couple of hours work on the computer while Azam and Barabara went out and on arrival home I was presented with gifts for me, Helen, all the family members including the baby not yet born, they are such kind and generous people. Then off to the airport and a 1 1/2 hour flight to Karachi. I`m told it`s not as nice as where I had been staying and much hotter. Had 90 minutes to book into the flight to Kuala Lumpur and it took all of that. But the plane was late and there were plenty of people on the same flight in the queue behind me so i wasn`t worried. Rang Helen from the departure lounge and got her up at 6:00 am!!!! then the flight to KL which i can`t remember and the 12 hours in the terminal at KL which i can remember!! I was going to head off into the city and do some sight seeing but like in Amsterdam, it was pouring down with rain, though a lot warmer than Amsterdam i`m pretty sure! Spent the day in a lounge there catching up on emails and then on Tuesday evening hit the air again for NZ. Wasn`t feeling that good in KL and the day after getting home was worse. But it seems to have passed now. Slept all the way to Auckland and managed to recognise Helen when I emerged from the scrum in Immigration and Customs!!

So that`s the last trip for 2009. A couple of points we`re grappling with, huge issues more like: 1) the huge decline in Western economies is going to make serving our partners a huge issue in the next few months. We estimate there will be a huge decline in giving. Add to this the drop in the exchange rate of the $NZ against the $US which our partnerships are quoted in, and we are going to have to find 25% more $NZ to fund existing partnerships and 2) the rise in food costs internationaly is really hurting our partners. They all need at least a 50% increase to maintain their existing levels of poverty. Add the two together and you can understand the probelms we are all facing. So if you are the sort of person who prays, then we desperately need your prayer. By "we" I mean us, the Bright Hope World family in NZ and Australia and the partners out there in many places who are on a knife edge.

When Jared and Ruthies baby arrives we`ll be in touch, it`s due on Friday the 17th. So thanks for hanging in ther ewith us on this trip. We are atarting to plan next year and it look like there will be many more exciting adventures coming up.

Love and best regards

Kevin and Helen

p.s. check out the new pix


grandma and grandad

2008-10-23

hey friends,

well great news for us, Jared and Ruth have had a son and his name is Hugo. He seems such a lovely little thing, takes after his grandma! So, i`ve put a couple of pictures here for you to have a look at, he was born on the 22nd and weighed in at 7lb 11oz.

It`s made me think all over again about something i`ve thought about many times. What`s the chance that we are born into a place like New Zealand with so many privileges. I know that all of you reading this are not from NZ, but the support for Jared and Ruth through the birth period was incredible. They ring up the midwife and she comes around, she then goes with them to the birthing place and is there with them the whole time with a number of other trained staff, all the technology is there to support them, then the next day they head off to another place for 3 days where Ruth is coached about all the important things new mothers need to know, there is little or no cost for any of this.... it just goes on and on. I think of some of our friends in other parts of the world and the difficulties they have to deal with when it comes to medical facilities and help when they need it and i am  very thankful.

There are some real concerns that you could pray about in the next few days regarding the work we are doing: 1) there is an election coming up in Zambia and there are some real concerns about one of the candidates especially, we need a good outcome there; 2) the cost of food is going through the roof in many countries still, i just heard this week that one of the ministries we support could not feed thekids this week because food price has risen so much; 3) the weak NZ dollar against the $US means we have to find 25% more NZ dollars to just fund our existing committments let alone increase them. Along with this of course is the fact that many people cannot give the way they were because of the economic pressures in the West. So, if you`re into praying, there is some stuff to pray about.

Next week Rob Purdue and Kevin will be talking about the partnershps and the pressure we are facing so we need wisdom for all that. Kevin is heading down to Nelson for 2 days to meet with some families who are interested to work with us on projects and then 3 days in Christchurch to work on our partnershps. Lots of decisions to make.

The last two weekends since coming back to NZ have seen us in Hamilton talking to a church about partnership and then at our local church camp at which Kevin did three sessions of speaking. So it`s been all go but pretty encouraging.

it`s only 5 weeks until Sara gets married so it`s all go. Lots of fun on that day I`m sure. We`ll keep you up to date on hat one too when it happens.

Thanks for staying in touch and following along the road with us. We really appreciate and love your friendship

Grandma and grandad!!!  (sounds pretty wierd!)


family times

2008-11-23

hi there friends,

an update from us is well overdue, thanks for your patience. it`s been pretty eventful since Kevin got back from the last trip in early October. here`s bit of a summary. a few days after getting home Kevin wasn`t feeling too well and after about 2 weeks of getting worse he was diagnosed with Malaria. it was the serious one, but the good thing is that it could be treated and eradicated. so after week on Quinine and doxycycline the malaria was gone but not all the the tiredness etc. It`s only now he`s feeling back to normal,what ever that is for him.

But life doesn`t stop eh! Jared and and Ruthies little Hugo arrived and is a month old now. He is doing great and is putting a kg every 3 weeks. Sara has been having hen`s nights and kitchen teas, Kevin has a had a couple of teaching sessions in churches.... and because of the malaria had to cancel a trip to nelson and christchurch. Helen has been getting stuff together for the wedding and my mum has come to stay with us for a couple of weeks.

Of course the main event soming up is not Christmas, it`s Sara`s wedding, this weekend, 5 sleeps. i`ll put a few pix on in a couple of weeks, the good news is that Helen has found a dress to wear.Kevin cannot undestand the fuss about the "mother of the bride" but he`s not looking forward to sleeping with a @#+&!"#%!&. oooops, guess who was writing that bit!

it`s been pretty busy at BHW with the end of year stuff going on. this time of the year we have to finalise all the budgets and cash flows for the next 12 months. with all the confusion in the financial sector and the huge shifts in exchange rates, how do you budget! 30 different currencies all moving in different directions to each other and against each other. And prices are rising steeply in developing countries as well. so it`s a hugely difficult exercise. we need all the prayer we can get at the moment.

we`re making plans for travel in 2009 and next time i`m in touch we`ll let you know the details of the first trip. but we have a number of people travelling with us and it`s pretty difficult trying to get it all teed up. Kevin has spent about 2 days last week trying to sort out the itinerary and it`s still not right. We have two families joining our team in teh field in 2009 so that will change our travel a little. Looks like we`ll be doing about 10 weeks mainly in Asia from teh end of March and then in August about 8 weeks in Africa. the other people will pick up the visits to someof our partners. so that will be great, hopefully a little cheaper and easier to manage.

the first trip will see us going through either PNG or the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Bahrain. so it will be an interesting jaunt with amazing people to visit and projects to engage with.

anyway, it`s the silly season eh, at least here in New Zealand. christmas advertising going mad and lots of money being spent on things people don`t need, crazy. we`ll wish you all a Merry Christmas and get back to you before the day.

Love

Kevin and Helen


more family stuff

2008-12-06

hi there friends,

not too many words from us this time but  few pictures for you to check out. It`s pretty busy at this time of the year sorting through the partnerships and trying to plan for next year, especially the travel side of things. looks like we`ll be leaving NZ for about 3 months towards the end of March.

But the last week has been about Sara`s wedding and we`ve put a few pictures here for you to check out. We had an amazing day full of laughter and fun. the weather was beautiful and added to the great day. the service was great and really reflected the personalities and values of Sara and Karl. we were very proud of our beautiful girl. So, enough from us, i`ll let you get to the photos. we couldn`t resist sneaking in a couple of photos of Hugo as well.

Kevin goes to Christchurch and Nelson tomorrow and then it`s back home and into Christmas with some messages to take and people to visit. So it will be fun with all the family around over Christmas.

Wherever you are this Christmas, may you experience the great joy of Jesus` presence.

Kevin and Helen


A new year of opportunity

2009-01-22

hi there friends,

it`s been a while since we were in touch. But it has been the holiday season here in New Zealand! We have been busy during the Christmas / New Year period getting the schedule for 2009 sorted and the trip itineraries organised. Seems like it`s coming together. Check out the itinerary for the first part of the year elsewhere on the blog page?

This year looks like a year of consolidation annd deepening the impact of Bright Hope World partnerships. We have two NZ families joining our team, Jerry and Hayley Field going to Zambia to cover the partnerships there and develop training and micro-enterprise and John and Cisca Vlaming who will be overseeing the development of the large agriculture projects in Zambia, Inida and Nepal. So it`s going to be great to have someone to share the load.

Raising funds and resources is a real issue in the current economic environment. With the drop in value of the NZ against the US$ we have to raise more than 30% more just to keep up with current partnerships, let alone start the more than 30 new partnership opportunities we have on the books just waiting.  So it`s going to be a year of challenge.

This weekend Kevin is going to be in Christchurch for meetings with the BHW team and to speak at a church there, Riccarton Community Church. Then in mid February we both go to Levin for the weekend of the 14th - 15th and if you`re in the Levin area we`re having a meeting to talk about what we`re up to. It`s at Kevin`s mum`s house, 33 Burn Street at 7:00 pm. Be great if you can come. After that we go to The Marlborough Sounds for 12 days of strategic meetings about the future and the partnerships. We`ll have a few people coming to visit us over that time.

Then at the and of March we`re off again to Asia, check out the itinerary. We have a lot of people coming and going on that trip so it`s going to be full on. We are planning two major trips this year, one to Asia and then one to Africa.

So welcome to 2009 and the ongoing journey. We really value your participation in our lives by following along, giving to the work, and to us praying or sending us notes, it`s awesome.

As before we`ll try to keep you up to speed with what`s going on and some of our adventures and introduce you to some of our friends out there.

Love to you and your family

Kevin and Helen


about to go again

2009-03-06

Yesterday we paid for our tickets so it`s all go again. Kevin heads off in 3 weeks and Helen a week later. Check out the map to see what`s happened. We`ve had to cancel the Pakistan bit at the end, mainly to save a bit of money. We were there last year so are trying to get as much value for money as we can. We`ll get to Palstan again next year.

The last few weeks have been a little quieter and it`s given us the opportunity to catch up on the website and get some strategy meetings sorted out. At Bright Hope World we`re getting some internal stuff sorted in an attempt to set up for the future. There are a number of issues we have to deal with, especially the weakness of the NZ dollar and the huge increase in opportunities, they are growing by the day.

Kevin went down to Chch late January and then in mid February headed off to Levin. We had a weekend there, it was great to catch up with our friends. We did a missions meeting on the Saturday evening and then spoke at church Sunday. Then it was off to Wellington on the bus and a 20 minute flight to Blenheim. Rob met us and we spent the next 11 days at Rob`s back in the Marlborough Sounds. We fished, read, talked and ate as we talked through all the partnerships on the current list and then the 35+ new ones. Over two days we had a visit from a huge pod of dolphins, it was great to spend some time out there on the water with them. We then caught the InterIslander to Wellington and the train back to Levin. We spent a couple of nights in Levin and met some friends in Palmerston North on the way to Hastings. After a nice evening we headed back to Auckland last Monday.

It was great to spend some time with friends and catch up. It was also great to get back and see Hugo, my word he is growing up quickly. It`s birthday time in our family. Kevin had his while in the Sounds and Helen`s is next week. So tonight we`re getting together with our kids and their spouses for a birthday celebration. It will be great to spend the time together.

Kevin is speaking at church the next two Sundays and the week between he`ll spend in Christchurch working on partnership issues. He`ll also be finalising the details of this next trip which you will read about over the next few months.  Tomorrow, Sunday, we have Worku Tafete our Ethiopian friends coming with his sisters to spend the day with us. It will be great to see them and spend some time developing the partnership that is going in Ethiopia.

The next trip is going to be interesting. We`re expecting the hight lights to be:

On the 8th May we head off to Ethiopia and a team from the USA arrives. You`ll hear the rest of that later.

So, welcome to the next phase of the journey as we head off. We look forward to the journey and having you along. Be great to hear from you as we go along. I`ll stick a few photos onto the blog as well so you can see what we`ve been up to.

Love to you and yours

Helen and Kevin


underway and cruising

2009-04-03

Back on the road again and feeling hot and tired in Manila. Got to Bangkok OK and into bed about midnight. This trip I thought I would tell you about the beds I / we sleep in on the trip (beds will be rated on the basis of the tried and true Honore scale, a combination of comfort and the amount of sleep induced, it is entirely non-scientific) and some of our travelling companions and friends we meet. The 1st night hardly counts as a night. Bed 1 was a waste of money frankly, nothing wrong with the bed just the quality of sleep that it induced, nil, zero, nyet, zip..... not a zzzzzz to be found; 3/10. At least there was an air conditioner (a/c) as they are called around here. But I guess I also dozed a bit on the plane so this is probably bed 1b, 1a being the seat on the plane!

Bed 2, at the home of our friends Elvin and Fritzie in Morong, just out of Manila. Fell pretty bad really, they are all sleeping on one room with the 3 kids and I’ve got the double bed for myself!!! I’m sitting on it at the moment in the few minutes before I lay my head down to sleep, and ask the Lord my........zzzzz, 6/10

Met two crazy people today, sat with them on the plane from Bangkok to Manila. Jeanette was a 27 year old woman with a 6 year old daughter, married but separated and living in Dubai. She had been out to her home country for 18 months working in a coffee shop. This was her 1st visit home and she was bringing half of Dubai home with her. She was as short as they come and as I sat in my seat I saw her packages coming along the aisle. Hopefully she’ll go to the back of the plane I thought selfishly. But no, she dumped her significant weight of luggage on me and for the next 3 – 4 minutes tried to stow her hand luggage slowing down the boarding. Even the serene, unflappable Thai air hostesses were getting annoyed. Finally she flopped beside me and started to talk, she hardly stopped for the next 135 minutes!!! I, along with half the airplane heard of her problems in Dubai and the way she had been treated so unfairly..... pretty sad really.

I was in the aisle seat, she was beside me and then a Filipino straight out of the Bronx arrived!! He jived and danced all the way up the aisle and R&Bed his way across us and into the window seat. He couldn’t listen to the iPod quietly and sang half the way to Manila. I have since found out about the Filipino love of karaoke and videoke! Anyway, John Harvey was a hoot. He worked in Saudi Arabia in the airport and was coming home for the 1st time in 18 months. He had 20 days leave to see his wife and 7 year old daughter.

Three million or so Filipinos live abroad, most as domestic workers. Many people have had their lives shaped by this phenomenon. Later that day in the office of ECPM, the group we partner with, I interviewed a lovely young woman, Ella. She is working with young people in campus work. Her mother has been living in the USA for 16 years and her parents have seen each other twice in that time. She has never seen normal family life and she thinks it’s one of the reasons she hasn’t married at 33 years of age.  Her mother has stage 4 cancer and cannot afford to come home for treatment so could possibly die in the US, totally away from her family.

Later that day I met with the leaders of ECPM and am very challenged by their vision and strategies.

Bed 3 – two nights in a row in the same bed. Gem hotel and resort, sounds a lot better that it actually was!!! It’s pretty expensive to sleep in Manila. I spent the second day in Manila visiting some of the places that we have been involved with for the last 10 years. It was great to see and hear about the changes occurring in people’s lives. Two of the places are in squatter areas and there is a great deal of transformation occurring. The best way to hear the stories here is to hang out with the people and that’s what I did.

Bed 4 – I was invited by NZ couple to stay 4th night in Manila at their house. After spending the day checking out the history of the Philippines with 5 of the ECPM team, I got into bed well after midnight.  They showed me around the national heart of the Philippines and around the foreshore of Manila. We then bought a whole heap of wet fish and took it into a restaurant to get it cooked. It was fantastic and a lot of fun.  On the way home I was encouraged to try balut. You can check it out on Google. It wasn’t as bad as made out to be, but having it after 11:00 with coffee is probably not a great idea! Bed 4 was definitely a goodie; 9/10!

Bed 5 – back in Bangkok. Went out to a large shopping mall to buy a new international power adaptor, busted the old one. Waiting for friends to arrive from NZ, one has just got in and two more arrive just after midnight.

Tomorrow we’re off to Myanmar so there’s not much chance of being in touch while there. It’s a fascinating, strange place with awesome people and I’ll tell you about some of them when I get back. Catch you all.

Kevin and Helen


Thailand and trouble

2009-04-09

Hey there

we`re sorry about the lack of communication. in Myanmar the computer got damaged so haven`t been able to connect and we don`t have a lot of time when the internet cafes are open to sit in them for hours and do the emails. It`s pretty frustrating not being easily able to keep in touch. if only we had a computer geek on the team!! if you want to send us an e-mail send it to bigkevin@clear.net.nz not kevin@brighthopeworld.com for the time being.

Anyway, now we`re back together the bed ratings might go up a bit!! Don`t have time to do the bed rating update this time but hope to on the next visit to a cafe. We`re heading off into the Thai countryside for the next 2 days so thought we`d send out a quick note and then we`ll do a longer update when we get back to Bangkok after the weekend.

Despite the disturbances in Bangkok we have not been affected and are all quite safe. the full team is here now, 14 of us so it`s logisitical challenge to keep ahead of everyone, especially when we have such difficult people!!! Joke, we`re doing well.

so dear friends, if you get  chance to pray please ask that we`ll find someone who can fix our computer. It will be a miracle as the next week here is Songkran and everyone shuts up shop. Also, it`s Easter in NZ so i can`t call anyone for advice.

Anyway. Love to you all and thanks for the notes on the blog and your prayers.

Helen and Kevin


Northern Thailand and coffee

2009-04-12

It’s Easter Saturday morning, about 6:30 and the sun is just about to burst above the clouds. It poured with rain last night after a spectacular thunderstorm. We’re in Northern Thailand. If you check the map we’re Southeast of Chiang Mai well towards the Myanmar border. We spent yesterday chasing coffee. You might or might not know about La Mai coffee, if not check it out and buy some on the BHW website, www.brighthopeworld.com ? Anyway, we visited two of the groups of people who grow the coffee we purchase and sell as La Mai. It was fascinating to meet them and hear and see the process. We had a couple do meals in the villages and then slept the night in a big room together with mattresses on the floor, the 14 of us were actually in a couple of rooms.

I have to tell you that half of the team snores, some talk in their sleep and they are all mad. Really! I have to be careful cause some of them read this! Last night before sleep we sat outside and as the moon rose we read the Easter story and worshipped the Lord together in this Buddhist land, awesome.  It was the strangest places some of the team had ever spent Good Friday. The bed rating for last night, the mattress was pretty comfortable but the other people in the room made sleep a difficult issue so it will come in pretty low! Later.

A bit of a recap of the last few days. Bed 5 was in the same hotel as bed 1b but as the difference is that I’m over jet lag so the rating rises sharply to 7/10. It was Friday night and I watched a game of super 14 Rugby on TV before going to sleep.

My@nmar (this is intentionally written this way to not draw attention to the country we were visiting) was really interesting. Great people passionate about what they are doing. They have lots of ideas so we did a LOT of listening and some talking.  They live in a country where there is little opportunity and where few people dream. Because of this they tend to struggle with process or the ability to capture their vision. Their training is quite low, but their ability (capacity) is very strong. So we have something to work with.  We went to church in the city, full of young people. We were at the Chin language service with over 100 people. Later they had a Burmese service and then an English one in the morning. We spent most of the afternoon and evening interviewing a number of people who are establishing churches in very difficult places. We heard from M V, a lovely young woman 8 months pregnant. She and her husband live in a village on the edge of Yangon and now there are many new believers. They are leaving the old ways of spiritual and physical poverty and their lives are transformed. We then talked to Joshua who came 10 hours overnight in a bus to visit us. He lives right in the middle of the delta where hurricane Nargis struck. The stories of loss, death, tragedy and destruction are heart wrenching. Less than a year after the event and the disaster continues.  The figures are hard to believe really, some say as many as a million people died there, the world is silent, the West has lost interest, even the attention span of the Western church is now determined by Hollywood, not God. The church in that place is growing steadily and Nargis brought many people to the Lord. The church is trying to rebuild many houses for people who lost everything.  A new house costs around $US400 and we were able to leave some funds to build a couple more.

Bed 6  was in room 106 in the Hotel K Paradise, I’ll have to give it an 8/10 spread across the 3 nights. You have to be careful discussing Christianity in My@nmar, the local guys are very wary of people overhearing conversations.

Monday we went to a village about an hour out of Yangon to visit a Bible school. We talked to the faculty about their dream for supporting a whole bunch of Christian activists to move out into the communities. They have few resources so we were trying to formulate a plan. More listening, more talking, more thinking and discussion with them and in the team. We also met a couple of people we have been communicating with for the past year. Samuel and his wife have more than 40 vulnerable children to look after in their home. a few weeks ago the government said that all orphanages / hostels had to close down and the children were to go back to their home villages!!! Hundreds, thousands of children have been abandoned. The government wants to stop the Christian investment in children. This is a sinister place, but there are a lot of good people trying to make a difference in impossible circumstances.

Tuesday morning, more meetings and we’re trying to understand the best way to support the growth of the work here. There are no easy solutions or magic bullets so it will take some time. We left Myanmar through the new international airport in Yangon, pretty impressive really.

Bed 7 back in Bangkok, I’ll have to give this on 10/10. Will there be another like this on the whole trip. You’ve guessed it, Helen arrived with 8 other people and now our team has jumped from 4 to 12. Don’t tell Helen but, to be consistent the rating should really only be around 6/10. Reasons, she tossed and turned all night, the air conditioning was too cold and we didn’t get to bed till well after midnight. So to be fair, 5/10 is really the truth.

We spent Wednesday in Bangkok with our friend and partner Lorraine Dierck and Prasert. They are amazing people with a large vision for Thailand. First we heard an overview of the work and the issues they face. We heard of the sex trade and the need for both ambulances at the bottom of the cliff and fences at the top of the cliff. We were disturbed to hear some of the stats and that in 21st century there are thousands of little girls every year sold / bought / traded / sent to Bangkok under false pretences and who become enslaved in the ‘sex trade.’ 60% of the men coming to Bangkok come for this reason, but this is less that 10% of the issue.

We then went to visit The Good News Team, one of our long term partners. They are a group of young Thai people who run a Bible Correspondence programme with 110,000 children on it. After lunch with them we went into the city to the red light area where Rahab ministry operates from. They try to help the girls who are caught in the poverty and degradation of bar girls and prostitutes. Over 800 have been set free over the years. Awesome to see the work, shocked to see the scene in Patpong, appalled to see the perverts roaming the streets with no shame and embarrassed to be middle aged white male in this place. Thank you God for the people who are trying to stop this blight on the planet.

Back to the Jumbotel for another sleep in bed 7 and a slight improvement, tonight 7/10. We were up early on Thursday morning to get a bus to the airport. We had a good flight to Chiang Mai about an hour north of Bangkok. A bit of confusion about the arrival destination, our contacts were waiting in international , we were in domestic. But we found them and it was off to the Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) to check out the source of La Mai coffee. These are the people who are trying to provide Thai coffee growers with some long term certainty for their coffee growing. We heard the story from Boonrat and Somsak two of the local leaders. It’s really interesting what they are doing there to try to bring some development to the local, tribal villages high in the mountains. We had lunch at the coffee shop they are developing to sell more coffee in Thailand. It was pretty good to be fair. The ITDP people are pretty helpful and keen to help us understand the process of producing coffee. That was our mission over the next few days.

That night we slept at the Riverside Guest House near the centre of Chiang Mai. We wandered into the markets and had a beautiful, cheap Thai meal. Bed 8 was great, around 7/10 I reckon.

Next morning was Good Friday and it involved a long ride in 3 4WD vehicles. We left at 8:30 and headed out of Chiang Mai to the South West. The road was good for the first 9 minutes and then is deteriorated severely for the next 45 minutes. We were climbing mountains on very steep gradients with little confidence that that driver was able to find the jumble of gears on our vehicle. We finally arrived at the village of Som Poi where the local Karen tribesman explained how they grow coffee and the process of production. We all sat on the floor and had lunch of local food and laxed out a little. We inspected the clinic that Starbucks had built, we buy as much coffee as they do from this group, and then spent the next 3 hours in terror as the continued to meander through very steep mountains an hills. This is rough country and the home of thousands of Karen and Hmong tribes people.

We arrived at the final village for the day about 5:00 pm as the sun was setting and as a huge thunderstorm was about to arrive. This grower told us about his growing and the tourist business he has set up explaining the coffee growing to tourists. He grows, processes and make coffee in his little place, it was very nice coffee. After a nice local meal and surviving the thunderstorm and the short drive down the hill we found ourselves sleeping in bed 9, with the rest of the team, but nice mattresses on the floor. This instalment ends with a bed rating of 3/10 though if we included novelty factors it would be up there!

Tomorrow we head back to Chiang Mai for a couple of days and then back to Bangkok. Need your prayers, lots of dangerous roads still to traverse and situations to deal with. We’re keeping well but tired every night.

Helen and Kevin


safe in Bangkok!

2009-04-14

Monday morning and we’re having breakfast at the Riverside Guest House.   A large parade is forming outside the hotel with many beautiful girls all being made up on the side of the street. There they go on their new pink bikes behind a portable shrine. It’s the 3 days of Song Kran, like New Year here and today millions of litres of water will be thrown at vehicles and people. Most of the team has already experienced it over the last two days as we’ve driven around.Saturday almost got away from us. We headed up to the village from our group sleeping arrangements and had breakfast and coffee. Then it was back to Chiang Mai along pretty good roads for the most, but quite steep. We stopped part way and some people rode an elephant while the others watched. It’s mid 30C (93+F) degrees so pretty warm, last night it was cooler so much more pleasant. The trouble started part way back to Chiang Mai. One of our drivers didn’t understand the relationship between the clutch and the gears so as we entered Chiang Mai the clutch was obviously under great stress. We finally lost it completely at a set of light and after pushing the vehicle through the lights at the next green, we sat on the side of the road for 90 minutes while a solution was arrived at.We piled in to the alternative vehicle and went to the coffee processing plant where La Mai coffee is bagged for export. They showed us and we asked questions and then it was back to the Riverside Guest House arriving in the middle of a huge thunderstorm. It was good to get a clearer understanding of the situation here with the coffee production and the capacity of ITDP to supply.Bed 10 was two nights in room 110 of the Riverside guesthouse again. The first night would rate around 6/10 but the second, best sleep on the trip so far – 9/10!

Sunday morning, Easter Sunday. We arose at 5:30 and were on the road to Ngao, 2 ½ hours away by minibus. We had a good one with a good driver. We got there around 9:30 and had a snack of fruit before church started. We met the people who run the church and the little hostel there for 20 kids. A missionary guy who has lived here for almost 50 years was our interpreter. We are looking at this as a possible partnership opportunity. It was good to see it after hearing about it from Kevin White and Emma Stokes. The Headspace team have been here for the last 3 years and it was good to hear about their influence and see signs of their visits around the place. Then back to Chiang Mai. The 2 ½ hour trip should have seen us back to the hotel by 6:30 at the latest. It was 8:30 before we arrived, having had to detour around protestors. So it’s a slow start to the day today, Monday, everyone is tired. But at least it’s a quieter day today with just a couple of meetings with people. The news out of Bangkok is not good though and we’re not quite sure what we’re heading back into.

We`re back in Bangkok. No hassles with the rioters thought there are a few army personnel around the area. Monday night we interviewed the man who oversees the Ngao hostel so that was nice. He came to our hotel woth us from the airport. Then into bed at the Jumbotel, room 321. Good sleep, 8/10 in bed 11. However, the airconditioning broke down next morning and we have been shifted to room 407.

The bad news is that we have been stuck in the hotel pretty much all day cause of the situation, but tomorrow we`ll go out again and visit a couple of places. The really good news is that my computer is working again thanks to one of our team members, Geoff.

Before we went to the airport at Chiang mai to fly to Bangkok yesterday, we visited Peter and Annette Hill. They are NZers pastoring an International Church here in Chiang Mai. Been here just over a year. Really interesting to hear of their work and theri perspective. Chiang Mai is a nice place if you`re visitor, but just below the facade is a terrible place of corruption, violence, abuse and child sex. It was really discturbing to be reminded about it again. It breaks your heart to hear of such terrible things and makes us even more determined to help a few who are caught up in it.

Thanks for being on the trip with us. We`ve put up a few pictures so you can see some of the people and places.


more beds, pigs and fires in Delhi

2009-04-22

After being without the internet for 6 days it’s a real treat to be talking to you again. this is a bit longer as we’re been out of touch for a while. So here’s the latest update, it will be a few days till we are able to connect again after returning from Kathmandu, we head off there tomorrow. Enjoy!Thursday 16th, we’re sitting in the airport at Bangkok about to fly out to Kolkata. We’ve survived the riots in Chiang Mai and Bangkok and today fly into the elections in India. Might be out of the frying pan... but I ’m sure we’ll be OK.We’ve had a couple more beds in Bangkok. Our first night back there saw us flying into a difficult situation and warnings that we shouldn’t go out onto the streets. But it was OK and the troops on the street were very friendly. The 1st room at the Jumbotel was pretty grotty and the air conditioner broke down, we actually slept OK in room 321 and I’ll have to give it a 7/10. We were shifted to room 407 and it was much nicer for our day in the hotel, it was good to catch up so bed 13 was great and we slept well, 8/10. Last night was bed 14 at the Great Residence Hotel. We decided to shift to nearer the airport in case there were troubles the day we were due to leave. Again slept well, the ratings are pretty boring at the moment, 8/10.The real events have been occurring on the streets but we’ve been spared from that. We have heard some awesome stories of what is happening here in Thailand. On Monday night we hear from Supong about the number of programmes they have operating caring for the elderly, running hostels and the drug rehabilitation centres. We are looking at the options to start working with the Kokkos Foundation in their attempts to care for people. We really like their strategy to care for kids and to provide some sort of care for the vulnerable. We spent the day in the hotel and in the evening talked to a young guy who is working with M0s1em people here. It’s an undercover work and we can’t show any photos. A lot of the work is web based answering questions from Thai people brought up in that faith. Interesting stuff and a real challenge to our thinking.Then yesterday we spent the morning with our friend Prasert. She is running kids programmes in the suburbs of Bangkok and hoping that they will become churches. There are some huge challenges in Thailand in presenting the Christian message. Thai people do not accept it easily. To be Thai is to be Buddhist, that’s the mantra they are taught.  So there are many good reasons why they won’t listen, it’s another reason why few Thai people become Christians and most of the growth here is among tribal people. There are some discussions coming up about the best means to use to communicate the Good News to Thai. We met some of the kids Prasert works with, it was great to hear stories of changed lives.Last night we ate at a roadside stall not far from the hotel. The food was average and very slow to come. 14 people turned up and ordered and they were stretched beyond capacity! Helen went out to the kitchen and they cooked it all on one gas burner. We said goodbye to 4 of our team members this morning, they are spending the day in Bangkok while we overnight in Kolkata. So, I’ll sign off here as we’re going to the gate and I’ll sign in again sometime later. Bed 15 will be in the YWCA in Kolkata. It was just over 2 hours through to Kolkata and we got there with no problems. Helen went out with the rest of the team to visit Freeset. It’s a Baptist project from NZ rescuing women from the streets, training them and giving them jobs. They make jute bags and other products and send them out of the country. At the moment there are around 150 women and they make 1,000 bags per day. They heard the story of one of the women and the huge changes that have come into her life. They all came away deeply moved by the experience. It’s a reminder that there are huge numbers of women and children being abused and enslaved every day in places like Kolkata. We applaud the ministry of Freeset.Kevin spent the afternoon changing money, confirming tickets for the travel to Dimapur and then writing up some reports while the team was away. He hasn’t had much time for that sort of thing so it was great to be able to rip a few pages out of the notebook.We had a lovely meal that night just along the road and at about 11:30 the stomach cramps began. And so followed a night of sitting on the loo and filling up the bucket. The bed was pretty hard and with the other distractions this night will go down pretty low on the ratings. I can only give bed 15 2/10.The next morning 3 of us headed off to the domestic terminal to fly to Nagaland. After a few hassles we got into the air and arrived over in Dimapur. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the training farm listening to some of the stories of the last year and seeing the developments. It’s pretty impressive I have to say and the pigs are amazing. You’ll get to see the write up on the BHW website some time soon.We spent the night in the Saramati Hotel in Dimapur. One of the board members of BHNagaland is the manager of the State owned hotel chain so we get free accommodation while here. Before bed we had dinner with the leaders of Nagaland Missions Movement and heard the story of the doctor BHW supports. He runs clinics in rural areas. For 2 years he is retraining and the plans are to set up a lot more of these medical workers in rural parts of India where there is great poverty and deprivation.The rating for bed 16 after sleep one would have to be around 7/10, not too bad really after last night’s events. Today we have a board meeting, Kevin is on the board of Bright Hope Nagaland reviewing the last year and making plans for the next.Wed 22nd, the last few days have flown by quickly. We survived the board meeting Saturday morning. Actually it was over pretty quickly really. The guys here are onto it and the work is developing really well, the number of pigs is now over 100, they have been running training seminars at the farm and at other places and encouraging the churches here to be much more practical in their teaching. Their question is this, the gospel message has been here for much more than 100 years, how come there are so many poor people around. There is a growing awareness that there are some deficits in understanding about the impact of the good news in peoples’ lives. It’s hard to understand the importance of pork here. You haven’t eaten if you’ve had no pork. Some people keep lumps of shrivelled pork in their houses as mementos of esteem from others. It’s everywhere and the training of people to better look after their pigs and to get access to pigs is the basis of this programme. There are plans to eventually expand into Myanmar and China with this programme.So we survived the board meeting and the other 7 members of the team arrived after a full time in Kolkata. We shot up to the farm again for another feast in the evening at Subong and Narola’s place. Next day was Sunday so we headed off to church at Sangtamtilla village where Kevin preached by interpretation. In this village a new Self Help group has bend established and after church we met with them. It’s too early yet to gauge the impact of this but all the members were there and were very thankful for the hand up. 19 have been given female piglets and 1 a male. Each gives back two piglets from the 1st litter to the programme when they are 60 days old. The guy with the male charges for the services of his boar to the partners and charges a higher price to other villagers. This is enough to make most of these people self sufficient. They have to grow food for the pigs a well and this stimulates a whole heap of benefits. They start growing more for themselves for example. Other villages grow for them and get some income. Many have access to land but don’t use it.We then went to one of the board member’s houses for late, light lunch and then back to the farm for an official welcome and lots of other guests. They are well connected these guys. The govt minister for health, water and engineering was there along with other important people. Then the feast, one of the fatteners was slaughtered and we ate all sorts of bits of pigs we’ve never eaten before! Early next morning we headed off to Kohima for a bit a tourist day. Helen stayed back and caught up with some stuff as she has done that trip before. We saw the huge cemetery where one of the bloodiest battles of WW II was fought. Over 2,000 young British boys are buried there.Tuesday we visited a Bible school partner of Bright Hope Nagaland. One of the team members spoke to the 150 students then we had breakfast, a couple of hours time out and then back to the farm for lunch before heading off to the airport, 3 searches of the luggage and two flights to land in Delhi. Bed ratings in bed 16 would probably average around 7/10 for Kevin but Helen a lot lower. Mind you the way she sleeps or doesn’t sleep would drop most bed ratings pretty low.Two more team members arrived from Australia and we got to Delhi Bible Institute at around midnight. It was 33 degrees C at midnight and forecast for around 40 for the rest of the week. At 2:00 am the air conditioner stopped and we sweltered through the rest of the night not getting much sleep. We found out in the morning why the power went off, the switch box of Delhi Bible Institute burned out and almost caught the whole campus alight. They fought it for a long time to bring it under control, the only thing that saved the building was the fact it is concrete. So the plans for the day are a little adjusted with now no internet access for a while at least. Bed 17 will have to rate pretty low, like 2/10 probably, shame, it was shaping up so well for a while. But we have another night here so it may redeem itself on night 2. 


tigers, rhinos and interesting people

2009-04-29

It’s Wednesday, I think, hard to keep up really, each day blurs into the next. We’re in Delhi having a day out sort of while the rest of the team has gone off to the Taj Mahal for a day trip. But back to the last few days.

Night two in bed 17 did improve the rating to around 6/10. We slept well last night, Wednesday 22nd, mainly due to the lack of sleep the night before I guess. During the day we spent a lot of time listening to our partners from DBI. First Isaac Shaw shared the history and broad sweeps of the work. Then Gloria Shaw shared about the relief and development department which are involved in. It was good to hear what is happening with that and look forward to seeing it all next week when we return to Delhi. Then at the end of the afternoon we interviewed 3 church planters who had travelled up to 10 ½ hours to tell us their stories. Amazing stories they were too. Stories about rescue from the poverty of being a Dalit (lowest caste) and now with BA’s, tutoring children, leading churches, setting up sewing and computer classes and a whole lot more. The "more" includes persecution, poverty, loneliness and really hard graft.

The 3 men were all very different in personality and gifting but come from the low caste and have left it all behind. One was a Buddhist priest and another was a Hindu acolyte: now serving the living God and totally committed to the cause of transformation of individuals and communities. It was very inspiring and humbling to be in the same room with these guys. 

Now I’m sitting on bed 18 in Kathmandu. We got here early afternoon and dropped the team off at the hotel. We then went to the home of our partner Niranjan. We then had a briefing from him about the situation and the vision for the work here. Again it is very inspiring to hear this guy tell the story of changed lives and radically transformed people. Tomorrow we head off to Nawal Parasi and an interesting couple of days which you will hear about soon. My head is about to hit the very hard pillow on bed 18 so I’ll put this computer away and cuddle up to the sleepy woman beside me, she is trying to finish a Sudoku puzzle but I don’t think there will be many more squares filled in tonight by the look of the droopy head. The air is putrid here, it’s very dry and the whole place smells, the streams are sewers, Kathmandu is one of my least favourite places on earth! morning... 7/10, not bad for a hard bed and a rock for a pillow!

It’s now Friday afternoon, I wonder what you were doing at this moment? I’m sitting under a fan typing this up while Helen and the rest of the team are out riding on elephants in the Chitwan National Park across the river from our hotel. We’re in Nawal Parasi some 180 km from Kathmandu. The team members were all too big to fit onto 3 elephants so I missed out, like you do. But I’ll get to go at 5 am tomorrow. We travelled across pretty good roads really from the city to this rural area south-west from Kathmandu. We are in the middle of a fertile river plain but to get here we twisted and turned alongside the river for well over 100 kms. We had a nice breakfast after being on the road for an hour and got here about 11:30am. We checked in and then spent will 2 o’clock visiting the partnership.

The clinic building is almost finished and is painted with some furniture. Now they have the task of finishing it, hiring staff, advertising and getting permits. This could take some time, maybe even 9 months. Nothing moves quickly here, but their presence in the community is already causing positive outcomes, so the intervening time will not be wasted. It was nice to meet Sonu again and see her fully involved in what is going on here. She and Niranjan have adopted a 12 year old girl taking her out of a “hotel” in the city and rescuing her from being another casualty of the sex trade. This couple really gets the issues and just naturally do the right thing, often at great cost to themselves. I’m not sure we get it even half as much. Their actions are a natural expression of a faith that is somehow different to ours in the West. Although we don’t face many of the overt cultural pressures some of our ethnic friends do, we are deeply conditioned by the pressure of our ungodly environment and the resulting apathy is killing our faith. Today I have been reminded about that again and am challenged to be even more like these guys.

After the team gets back from the elephant trek in the Park, they hope to see one horned rhinos and possible even a tiger, we have a Nepali cultural concert and then a Nepali dinner around 9:pm. Should be fun. We’re in single beds tonight so that will drop the rating though it might improve the sleep! We’re ensconced in the Tiger island Resort, I’m not sure if resort means quite the same thing here.

Helen and the team got back all excited, they saw rhinos and a tiger, pretty rare to be able to watch it for so long as they normally don’t hang around once spotted. But this one stayed around and they got a lot a good photos. The cultural concert was pretty average and sleep was great in bed 19, 8/10 at the Tiger Island Resort. This place was once very nice but because of the fighting around the district over the last 6 years it has gone to ruin. They are working it again now and hope to have it back to scratch again soon. It certainly has potential. It’s not every day you see tigers. I discovered this the next morning. As I had missed out going on the elephants the day before, I got to go at 5:00 am. Off we went, walked about a km, crossed the river in a dugout canoe and had a cup of tea while they saddled up the elephant whose name meant naughty. All of this before I was awake. Off we went into the Nepal jungle, it’s pretty nice I have to say. The ride was highlighted by seeing a number of one horned rhinos, lots of birds, not tiger though lots of tracks, a ride down the river in a dugout canoe through the rapids and a spectacular dismount, they’ll be talking about it for some time. Fortunately I wasn’t injured!

After breakfast we went off to 2 churches, one small one was really nice and the other service was nice but the pastor`s eyes lit up when he saw 11 Westerners rock up and the expected plea for money was made. Sometimes I could slap people like him. They really have no idea what it’s about and many westerners get sucked in when and if they rock up. Two of the team members spoke, both 1st time by interpretation and both did really well. Well done Geoff and Dave.

After another Nepali lunch we hit the road about 2:00 pm and arrived back in Kathmandu at 6:30. The driving is pretty crazy and the team has been shocked by it and fascinated by the huge crowds of people everywhere. We had a nice meal at a restaurant and then took a taxi back to Niranjan and Sonu’s place. They are such nice people and very accommodating. We were back in bed 18 again and after a brief battle with mozzies we slept well, 7/10.

Sunday felt like an ordinary day as they do church here on Saturdays. We tried to see the Himalayas but the smog is so thick it was almost impossible. We got back and had a few more meetings with our friends and then took them out to dinner at night. We found a nice cafe with free wireless internet so that was nice and although we visited it 3 times the power was off every time. I don’t know how people do any business in Nepal, corruption and lack of services frustrates people severely. Bed 18 supported us well and another 7/10 is reported.

Monday morning we had breakfast and then met 3 young guys who are church planting around Kathmandu. I’m not sure we’ll be able to do much to help them. We then headed out to the airport and back to Delhi. We got back around 5:30 to DBI and at 10:30 left to catch a midnight train to Dehradun, 6 hours away. So bed 20 was an interesting one, bottom bunk of 3 on an Indian sleeper train. Helen was in another cubicle so she couldn’t disturb my sleep, but there were plenty of other people trying to disturb it. All 14 of us got there OK, in one piece but a little worse for wear! Not much sleep was had even when adding all our sleep together! So it will have to go down as a 2/10 frankly. We spent the day visiting and interviewing a whole bunch of interesting people. some of their faith stories are totally inspiring, amazing really. We’ve recorded them but it will be a while before we can write them up. We then hit the return train at 5 in the afternoon and got back to DBI and bed 18 again just before midnight. Where did that day go!?

So now I’m sitting in Delhi trying to sort out postponed flights, I hope the rest of the team are enjoying the day! My career as a travel agent is over; I quit! It looks like we are flying tonight instead of tomorrow and I’ll have to find accommodation for 10 people in Hyderabad tonight, anyone got any friends there we can stay with. Helen’s out getting her hair done so that will be nice for her.

love

Kevin


lepers and kids in Kakinada

2009-05-04

Oh boy, we’ve had an interesting few days. It’s Sunday and we’re sitting in Hyderabad airport on the way from Rajahmundry to Chennai to Bangalore. We were supposed to go direct from Rajahmundry to Chennai but the flight was cancelled. At least we’re in a nice airport with limited, 45 minutes free wireless internet.

The last few days have been interesting to be frank, interesting but good. The team that headed off to the Taj Mahal had a shocker. The bus was a dud so they had to run around the Taj like mad things. Meanwhile, while they were away Kevin managed to get the flights changed; trouble is we had to fly out from Delhi about 2 hours after the team arrived back from the trip to the Taj. We said hurried goodbyes to 4 team members and leapt in the bus. We got there in time and took off for Hyderabad and no beds. We got into a lounge and slept where we could. On every trip you have “one of those days,” this was it. Bed 21 was straddled across two chairs or drooped in very uncomfortable chairs designed to not be slept in! 1/10 for bed 21, shocker! The team coped remarkably well and on Thursday morning we boarded the flight to Rajahmundry.

Bed 22 was great and we slept well in it for 3 nights. I’m going to give it a whopping 9/10 largely because we both slept really, really well. We spent 3 days with our friends in Kakinada, Emmanuel and Jessie Kumar. First afternoon we heard the story of the work in Kakinada and then visited the children’s home. It was lovely to see the kids so happy again; it’s a year since we were here. Some people ask us if there are ops to help, after visiting here the answer is yes. For 1,000 Indian Rupees a month a child can be supported in the home, that’s around 30 bucks NZ.

The next day we visited a couple of places where the ministry has feeding and wound dressing programmes for lepers. Lepers here are put into govt built housing colonies, out of sight out of mind. But these lepers have got too old to earn anything so many have gone back onto the streets begging. I have rarely in my life seen such poor people, not just poor but beggarly poor, not just poor, painfully poor. It’s such a shame and for one day a week they get some relief. They get their transport paid for to come to the clinic if they don’t live nearby, they get 3 decent meals, their wounds dressed, medication to take home and a message of grace, love and hope. I have to say, these are miserable places, shocking places. So it was one programme at lunch time and another after dark. The after dark one is easier to deal with, you don’t see as much and there are no flies around!!! The lunch session was fly central, flocks of them. Between the two horror locations we had a brief interlude at the beach at Kakinada. It was fun to relax a little away from the stench.

As we moved around with Emmanuel we talked a lot about the partnership and the opportunities for growth. There is so much more that could be done in this place. For example they could double the number of kids in the home, double the number of leper programmes, add hugely to the sewing programmes, develop an agriculture programme and also adult literacy.

Saturday saw us visiting 4 of the 6 sewing programmes that are operating. Women are selected from the community and taught how to sew. When they finish they get a sewing machine. This gives them the opportunity to save a lot of money for their families and to generate an income as well. Some are doing really well. We talked to a few from previous programmes and many in existing programmes. It was great to see the hope in their eyes as they were learning all this new stuff. Many, most of the women can’t read. We met beautiful young women around 16 years of age who left school at 11 years of age and cannot even read numbers. We met 15 year old girls who are married; their only dream is to get pregnant. There are so many trapped in poverty, not just the poverty in the homes, but trapped in mind poverty where they have lost the capacity to dream, to think, to learn anything new.

And so we left there on Sunday morning with a lot of thoughts and a lot of new opportunities to explore. Tonight we’ll be in bed 22, Kevin has been away now for 35 days from NZ and Helen for 26.

We have enjoyed such amazing hospitality as we travel and spend time in the homes of some of our partners , as we visit their homes and stay in some. They just love to spoil us with lots of food and try to make us comfortable. When the power goes off some of the kids try to keep us cool in the high 30oC heat fanning us with rolled paper......cute.

As always we appreciate your prayers and emails.

Love from Kevin and Helen J

p.s. we have got to Bangalore though it was a close shave. 6 of the team almost missed their plane as the plane from Hyderabad was late. I don’t think I’ve ever got onto a plane with so little time left. So we all got here and we’re having a lighter day today. Tomorrow it’s back to meeting lots of people and partners. Bed 22 was pretty good, though it was a bit hot, but we’ve 5 nights here and I’ll give it a combined rating!


Out of india

2009-05-08

Bed 22 rating, it will have to go high, we’ve slept well here in Bangalore. It’s much cooler so that helped..... so it will have to go at 9/10. We’ve slept in till 7:30 most mornings so hopefully we have some sleep stored up for tonight. Mmmm, we go to Bangalore airport and fly to Mumbai at 8:20 pm. We get in around 10 pm and then go over to the International airport. Unfortunately the plane leaves at 5:30 am so we’ll have to spend the night in the airport, hopefully there might be a lounge we can break into!!! The rest of the night will be on the plane to Addis Ababa.

We’ve had a few experiences here in Bangalore, though a little quieter so that was good. The team members have all gone and we’re on our own for a little while. We’ve visited our partners here in Bangalore. Again we have been inspired by T Raja and the Home of Hope. 300 destitute people gathered off the streets by this modern day Good Samaritan. How do people do this, they are amazing. Then we spent time with Vidya and Ruth Sagar, people with many things on the go for the sake of the kingdom. We met and interviewed a bunch of people making a huge contribution to their communities and under severe pressure.

We’ve also interviewed some potential partners. One guy came 1,200 kms (30 hours each way) for us to interview him about the work he has given his life for. Another came 500 kms, 12 hours on a bus to tell us his story. Difficult loves, hard work and few results, suffering and persecution were common themes of their story and their journey.

Now we’re about to move on, hard to know what to do with all this stuff. Too much to think about, too little time to really understand the issues. But fortunately these people work for one who does understand the issues and who will never let them down.

Another continent, another country and another team looms in the next few days. I know what we’ll see; we’ll meet awesome people who really know their God and who attempt great things for him. Our role is so much easier, we visit them, we encourage them and we support them; in the process we learn so much and are challenged by their lives.

As we leave Asia we reflect on huge numbers of people, desperately poor Christian minorities, pain and poverty that cannot be understood and really good people. Thanks God for allowing our lives to be shaped by this.

Thanks to you guys for following along with us. Hope you enjoy some of the portraits we’ve taken so far.

Kevin and Helen


Ethiopia diary

2009-05-18

0/10, how’s that, we hoped we would never write it. But it happened, bed 23a, 23b and 23c! 23a was the waiting area of Mumbai airport. We got to Mumbai OK from Bangalore, a bit late, but then after a little trek we found ourselves with about 6 hours to wait and not a bed or a hotel in sight. So Helen stayed awake and guarded the bags while Kevin tried to sleep with two rows of chairs pushed together. She reckons he slept, I am not so sure. Then it was off to the 30 minute queue through immigration and the customs. We found a nice cafe and had a nibble and laid out on the nice long, soft benches. I mean, there were hardly any people around but still they gave us the shove and that was the end of attempt 23b. 23c was a totally vain attempt at sleep on a plane! We got into Addis Ababa at 8:30 am after a 5 ½ hour flight to find Helen’s bag had been opened, the lock broken and the security tape removed and all the inside reshuffled. It doesn’t look like anything has been taken, maybe an enthusiastic security person at the airport, a very messy security officer!!

Anyway, we’re fully ensconced in the very grand, well maybe 100 years ago, Taitu Hotel in the Piazza area of Addis. Bed 24 was much better and gets a 6/10 from me and 7/10 from Helen. That makes a 6.5/10 average. We’re catching up with our partners over these 3 days and having a bit of a break until our friends from Chase Oaks Church in Dallas arrive. At least it’s not too hot here, around 21 – 22o we reckon.

Overall bed 24 would average 7/10 across the 4 nights we had there. We slept pretty well at the grand old Taitu hotel built 140 year ago and hardly touched since then. The massive rooms and high ceilings conjure up much grander days, now it’s very tired as are most of the staff. The team from the US arrived minus one suitcase! Senior pastor is now hardly recognizable from the locals with his new clothes. While in Addis we visited a couple do potential new partners and interviewed some of the street kids. Here’s us rating the beds we sleep in and there are thousands of children and vulnerable people sleeping on the streets, everywhere you go. You could build a 1,000 orphanages here and dozens of schools and still hardly make a difference to the numbers.

Wednesday was another day of frustration with Ethiopian Airlines. If you come here don’t expect any of your ticket times to be right or one plane to take off on schedule! We heard that we were to leave an hour early so were geared up to be at the airport at midday instead of 1 p.m. most of the team were leaving at 7 a.m. and we were booked on a later flight. 10:30 Tuesday night the Ethiopian guy we were flying with got a call to say the flight was now at 6:15 the following morning. So we got up at 3:45 and were there in good time and the plane left on time. The other crew got to the airport at 6 a.m. for their 7:30 flight and left around 2 p.m.! how does that happen. Reminds me of my last trip to Ethiopia with Rob Purdue, we basically spent 3 days sitting in the airport and saw nothing we went to see.

Anyway, the team caught us up and we interviewed a bunch of amazing young people mainly who are living in very difficult circumstances for the sake of expanding the kingdom of God. On this afternoon and the next we heard stories of:

Imprisonment because of trumped up charges of poisoning and raping people. no evidence, but the police and courts side with the accusers

A church of more than 70 new believers established in less than 9 months

A woman church planter was not allowed to attend the funeral of her father because she is a believer in Jesus and she broke away from the traditions, fear and superstition of the old ways. The church would not allow her father to be buried in the cemetery because of her faith!

One pastor has been separated from his family for 17 years and not allowed to even speak to them or have contact. A fierce dispute arose in the family over some matter and he was asked to go back and help. The problem was solved and many of the family have become followers of Jesus.

So the stories are very different and very inspiring. We slept pretty well at the Gihon Hotel on the shores of Lake Tana in Gonder, 7/10 in bed 25 despite the fact there was no electricity or water! Another grand old hotel with a great location and no idea about management! Thursday morning we visited a private Christian school in Bahir Dar. It is very inspiring and is going to be a model for a school that will be developed in Gonder over the next few years. We then headed off to Debre Markos(BM) about 4 hours drive. In DM we spent that afternoon visiting a bunch of old beggars the church is working with, very desperate people, as poor as it gets. Then more stories like those above and then the local churches put on a coffee ceremony to honour the local guys who are facilitating the development of the work we are involved in. We crashed around 10 into bed 26 at the Shebel Hotel in DM. Stay away from room 10 if you find yourself in this salubrious establishment. Neither of us slept well, let’s say 4/10, no water but there was power. That may not sound very wonderful, but this is the 5th time we have stayed here and the 1st time we have had power. You know what, I wrote the word power and it went off. At least it doesn’t disappoint you!

Today we head back to Bahir Dar and tomorrow we fly to Gonder. Almost another week of the trip has flown by. The US guys are trying to get as much video footage as they can to tell the story back in Dallas. We’ll be having discussions over the next two days with them about the shape of the next 18 months. That is where the real work will be done over the next few days.

After Monday we will be largely on our own having a break. The frustration is not having decent internet so it’s hard to stay in touch. We are missing home now with 4 weeks to go will we get home. There is still work to do here in Ethiopia and then Bahrain. Also when we get back to Thailand we have a couple of days and Kevin is heading back to Chiang Mai while Helen hangs out in Bangkok. The key guy in the organization who produces La Mai coffee was not around when we there earlier on the trip. So Kevin will shoot up there for 24 hours to catch up and try to gain a few more understandings.

Last thing, while we are in Ethiopia until the 27th of this month, we have a local phone number, +2519118046805. Can’t guarantee the local network will let you through but at least you can give us a call if you need to.

Lots of love, Kevin and Helen.

p.s. this was written a long time ago. There have been a lot of beds since this and we’ll try to get another update out soon. the access to internet, power and water in Ethiopia is atrocious, enough to drive one spare, yesterday the power was on for 8 hours, midnight to 6 am and 10 pm to midnight, this is in one of the largest cities in the country. If you want to invest in any country on earth don’t make it Ethiopia!!!!

0/10


Lake Tana at Bahir Dar

2009-05-23

Oh boy, it seems so long since we had any sort of contact with you guys. Life has been pretty hectic and frustrating, I guess that describes it best. We’ve been in a few more beds. Met some amazing people again and learned a lot more about life here in Ethiopia.

We are going to build a school! That’s the plan anyway, over the next few years. So if you know anyone who wants to invest in education in Ethiopia then this is the place. Actually, it’s the local guys who are doing it, building a school in Gonder. It will start in rental accommodation with around 500 kindergarten and grade 1 children and then grow from there over the years. It’s pretty exciting really. The team from the USA are involved in part of it, getting it going, but we’re going to need some large investment at some points along the way.


But, let’s not jump the gun. We left you in Debre Markos and that day we drove back to Bahir Dar. On the way we met with some church planters in a town along the way. Some had travelled up to 12 hours to get to us, some of them walking much of the way. We heard again stories of terrible persecution, of miracles of healing and of rescue and of whole communities being transformed. There is a tribe of people in that area that are as backward as it gets. They don’t wear clothes, do no agriculture or work, they just live in the bush and survive from the forest. The 21st Century has hardly even touched them apart from all the bad stuff like HIV/AIDS, illness and disease, their vulnerability seems to attract all the worst people you could imagine.


We then came back to Lake Tana and stayed again in bed 25, room 5 at the Gihon Hotel. Probably the same rating really and for the same reasons. Then on Saturday we flew off to Gonder, a 20 minute flight, even through the 6 USA guys weren’t booked or recorded as being on the flight. There were too many people on the plane so they threw a local guy off, I guess he walked!! For the next two nights we were at the Embassy Hotel in Gonder and we slept pretty well there, 6/10. While in Gonder we spent time checking out our partners there. We visited a programme that feeds 50 street widows a day and spent some time with them. The US team followed a couple of them home to get some video of the conditions of their housing. Needless to say it was pretty basic. We then checked out the venue for the start of the school, it is a nice little campus and will be OK for a start.

On Sunday 2 of the USA team left for Addis and back to the US. Some of the team went out to a village to check out a new church building that has been built there. Helen and I stayed at the hotel for a bit of a break. Then after a light lunch we went out to another village called Tikel Dingay, it’s the home town of our Ethiopian friend Worku. We met the family again and had a huge feast, they called it a snack before coffee! Bread and honey and local treats, it was lovely.


We are getting tired. We went to bed early! The rest of the US team along with Worku and Melaku our friends here left early Monday morning for Axum. Helen and I shifted into a slightly nicer hotel in the middle of the city, it’s much easier to get around from here. Monday was a wasted day really. There was no power all day so we just hung around and the major event of the day was being able to get onto the internet at the flash hotel in town. Well above the town really, it’s perched on a high hill overlooking the city.

Tuesday we worked all day, the power was on all day. In these small towns the power is on for a day, off for a day. How anyone can make any money I have no idea. This place is almost the most backward, corrupt place I have been to. Bed 27 was two nights at the Qarra Hotel in Gonder and with the small bed and the hard pillows etc we can only give it a 4/10. But it was a clean nice room with pleasant staff.

It’s now Wednesday and we have flown the 20 minute flight back to Bahir Dar. We’re in bed 28 now on this trip and we’re planning to have a bit of R&R for a few days. But I think there will be quite a bit of work coming up. We are developing a plan to do a farm in Ethiopia and Friday and Saturday will be developing the plan. It’s a really interesting project growing sesame seed. It’s drought resistant and the sesame farmers have all done very well for themselves. The purpose of the farm is to generate funds to support the other work that is going on here. We will apply for a 1,000 ha from the government and get it pretty much free, well free is a relative term!! Meanwhile a Christian guy has a farm he is willing to lend us for a couple of years while we get the other land sorted.


So we’ll be talking farming again and then we’ll have another plan to bring back home for the BHW team to develop. Next trip here will see us having to go bush near the Sudan border where the farm is.


It’s Helen signing in for a few lines. I have been thinking next time we should rate the hotel bathrooms as we travel!!At most places the loo paper is like sand paper...The showers seldom work, and hot water is a luxury....Then there are the smells that are like a sewer that sometimes make me want to dry retch. Most of the toilet seats are broken or there are none.


I thought you might like to hear about an amusing thing that happened to us when visiting a flash hotel where we were using their internet. I was browsing at a curio shop and noticed they had some 2nd hand novels for sale. So I enquired about the cost to buy one. The man wanted me to pay for the price of it brand new....WHY I asked? Well “It’s the same author, same story, same book, so same price “ !!!! Of course I tried debating about the price, but he was adamant he was entitled to the full price for a 2nd hand book. So I never bought one!


sign in next time for funnies from Helen!!!!

love

Kevinand Helen


Helen`s suitcase!!!

2009-05-31

It’s Sunday, we’re in Bahrain and it feels like a totally different day of the week. We had church on Friday, then Saturday had a lovely day with our kiwi friends in Bahrain and now it’s Sunday and our clocks are all messed up. Oh well, we’ll be back in NZ in about 11 days so we can catch up then.


It’s been pretty interesting since we last updated you all. Bed 28 in Bahir Dar rates up there; I’m going to give it am 8/10. We had 5 nights in it on the shores of Lake Tana. The food was good, the bed great, the rest of it like toilets, internet, power etc, distinctly average! We had a few days break really. When the power was on we did computer stuff, reports etc. when it was off we played Quiddler, a card, word game and did some bird watching. The birds here are amazing! Saw about 15 more species to add to the list. We also finalised some decisions about developing the school and a farm in Ethiopia. We interviewed a guy who will lend us 100 hectares for a couple of years so we can get it established. We’re planning to start it in March / April 2010, growing sesame.


We hung out in Bahir Dar until Monday the 25th and then flew to Addis Ababa. The plan was to stay there for 2 nights and then head off to Bahrain on Wednesday evening. But the plane was brought forward and we were told to be at the airport at 7:00 the next morning. We got there and found out the plane was leaving at 10 that night!!! So we had 15 hours in the airport!! More reports!! We managed to have power all day so we got some work done and relaxed a little as well. No point getting upset.


Bed 29 had been a short sleep in a hotel close to the airport and gets a 6/10. Can’t entirely blame the bed too much, it wasn’t entirely its fault that we didn’t sleep that well. Anyway, we arrived in Bahrain at 2:00 am Wednesday to find our friend Dave Laskey patiently waiting for us. Why patiently, well, the plane was a little late and HELEN’S BAG WASN’T ON THE PLANE!!!! What is it with this woman’s suitcase! Yea I know, not her fault. So for 2 ½ days she didn’t have it and then yesterday we went to the airport and despite the baggage people’s assurances that it had not come in we went for a look. Nothing in any of the 5 lost luggage cages. Then back the front office. Can we check out the carousels again please!! Yea, OK..... and there it was, probably been there since we were last there. According to them no more planes had come in from Addis with Ethiopian Airlines!!! Got to be pushy. So Helen had a big smile all day Saturday, Praise the Lord!


Bed 30 is a cracker. We’ve had a few nights in it now and I’m going to have to go out on a limb, 9/10. Total luxury, great sleeps and huge. Mind you, Kevin still sleeps right on the edge of it. Our friends are from NZ, and we have known them for years, are David and Brenda Laskey. We have known Dave since teenage days in Levin and their family for years. So it’s nice to be with friends here. The plan is to explore partnership opportunities in Bahrain with their church. It’s an international fellowship with people from all over. We have met kiwis, Sth Africans, Americans, Canadians, Pakistanis, Malawians, Nigerians..... the list goes on. The pastor is an Ozzie guy, really nice bunch of people. We went to church Friday morning, spoke at a Pakistani fellowship in the afternoon, went to a men’s study Saturday morning and in a few minutes am going to speak to the staff of a Christian hospital here. There is a bit to do and all the time we are observing and talking to people. In between its report writing, still a lot to do and a lot of decisions to make.


So as we stay here at 40 degrees +, we are aware that it won’t be long and we’ll be back to winter in NZ!!!! Can’t wait!!! Over the rest of the day after putting this up we’ll but a few pix on the bog for you to check out. We are here for another week, then it’s back to Thailand for 3 days and some meetings and back home on the 11th June.


So, stay warm and close to Jesus,


Helen and Kevin


Back home Thursday

2009-06-10

Our last week in Bahrain was great as we caught up on writing reports and emails, attended some more programmes initiated by the church in Bahrain, socialized with friends over meals and rested.


Helen was able to go to a Mainly Music programme the ladies had recently started. A Lebanese lady was there for the first time and loved it and wants to invite all her friends. A NZer has had the vision for this outreach, and is very enthusiastic, and is also looking at other ways to engage with the local community with parent seminars and teaching English as a second language, holiday programmes etc.


Helen was off again on Thursday to a Ladies prison with two ladies from the church. They were able to see about 25 women and some were from Bahrain, Philippines, Ethiopia and Russia. Emily led a Bible study and gave out Bibles in several languages so they could follow some of the study and were able to keep them. There were some very sad faces and of course we were not able to ask why they are in prison. One of the ladies is a Christian and she had a big smile and loves praying. The ladies get three meals a day and looked clean and healthy. Two guards sit by the door and they also get the opportunity to hear Gods word and see love in action.


There are 1000s of expatriates in Bahrain from the top end of society through to migrant workers and sex workers. The migrant workers are from Ethiopia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and there are many from India and Philippines. Many of these people are migrant labour, many are part of the people trafficking issues that so plague this part of the world. We‘re starting some research on this for further action.


One night we went to a concert by the Manama singers and the Bahrain Orchestra. Brenda Laskey was playing her violin; it was really nice to sit back and enjoy an evening of classics. It’s all the more interesting when you know people performing.
Kevin went off one evening to a migrant workers compound and spoke at the English speaking Saar Fellowship on Friday morning. It was really nice to lax out a bit a catch up on reports etc before getting back to NZ. At the end of the time there we have to confirm that bed 30 is a 9/10. It’s a good thing too as we had 11 nights in it, by far the longest stay of the entire trip.


We’re now in Bangkok with one more flight to go, yes Helens bag arrived safely!! Bed 31 was the plane and surprisingly, it wasn’t great, about 4/10 or even less for Helen. We got to Bangkok Monday am and went to our next hotel. We booked in and had a shower and then Kevin went back to the airport and flew to Chiang Mai while Helen stayed in Bangkok. Kevin spent time with one of our partners, the ones that produce and sell us the La Mai coffee. It was great to get more of an insight about the operation and the purpose of ITDP. You’ll hear more about them in the future. Kevin’s bed 32 was 7/10 at Riverside House and Helen’s about 7/10 as well with the roosters taking 2 points off!


Tuesday Kevin came back to Bangkok and another 8/10 for bed 33. It’s hot and muggy here at 30oC + and rainy with clouds. Not looking forward to the winter tomorrow!!!
So friends, thanks for following along with us. We’ll do one more entry when we get home with more pix. We have 7 weeks at home before we head off to Southern Africa early August. But that’s another episode in the saga.


One more flight and then we’ll see the family. It will be great to hug them all again and play with Hugo. We hear he’s doing really well. Hopefully there will be no swine in the sky to catch the flu from and no after effects from the travel.


Love
Helen and Kevin


back to a NZ winter

2009-06-14

Back in New Zealand.....mmmm. it all seems a bit quiet and tame really. Anyway, I guess tame and quiet ain’t a bad thing! The night before we left Bangkok we went out for dinner with our friend Supong to catch up on a couple of potential partnerships. He took us to t nice restaurant that serves traditional Thai food. It was very different to the usual fare you get at a Thai restaurant; and very nice I have to say. It was nice to be able to have a slower trip home that usual and arrive feeling not so wasted, and pretty much up to date with reports.


It’s been nice to catch up with Sara and Jared, Ruth and Hugo and many of the extended family. Had a chat with Kevin’s mum too, she’s doing well.


Thanks for being with us on this trip. It’s been a long one with a lot of people coming and going. But we got to spend some good time with our partners and to sort through most of the issues. We finish the trip with some lasting impressions:


Now we’re back in NZ till the 5th August when we head off to Africa. We’ll be back in touch before that. While home we will be going to Levin later this week for the funeral of Bill Rolston, a long time family / church friend from there. He was a lovely man and a faithful supporter. We’re going to miss the Livingstones Roundtable unfortunately. Last weekend of June Kevin is speaking at Orewa Community Church about the trip, I’m pretty sure Helen will also be involved. We then go to Christchurch 5th – 9th July to the office to catch up. The weekend of the 1st August we’ll be in Tauranga for the Envision Conference and to speak at a church there.Then we leave again on 5th August. Between that we have to organise the partnerships and follow up with a heap of decisions from this last trip.


We’ll be back in touch again before we leave in August. We appreciate your ongoing friendship. If you want to hear a little about a couple of our partnerships you could go to the link here and check out the sermon. It’s from Chase Oaks Church in Dallas, Texas. The speaker is the senior pastor, Jeff Jones. He is talking about the partnership we have introduced them to in Ethiopia and you’ll see some video of what we were up to there. Helen even appears in it!
http://www.chaseoaks.org/whats-happening/sermon-series/sermon-archives/

So, stay well until we come on line again in 6 weeks or so. Feel free to be in touch. Enjoy a few more pictures as well.


Love and don’t forget that we are depending on God’s grace and your prayer


Helen and Kevin


off to africa

2009-08-02

hi there friends,

We've got 39 hours left before we head off to Africa on another safari through our partnerships. we'llbe away for 10 weeks, 8 of them in Africa. We've written up the itinerary for you to check out and follow along with.

You'll see from the itinerary that after a couple of nights in South Africa we get to Zambia. there are a couple of conferences to attend so that will give us a bit of breathing space until we are able to get out to visit someof the rural partners.

We'll update you as we are able to get access to the internet. So put on your seat belts and settle back for the ride. We'll try to make it as comfortable as we can for you without too many strange beds and food to eat.

Kevin and Helen


Zambia and Conferences

2009-08-14

Muli shani from Zambia, it just means how are you? Back in Zambia again, it’s been almost year since we’ve been here. It’s the longest break away from the place in about 10 years. It’s great to be here with the team and amongst some of the friendliest people in the world.

Sophie is squealing next door, she’s Jerry and Hayley Field’s daughter. We’re about to go off to church and she has other things on her agenda! We’ll be spending a bit of time with them over the next few weeks so we’ll get used to Sophie I’m sure, she’s so funny....

The trip to South Africa went well. No hassles or delays. We got up at 2:45 on Tuesday and Jared took us to the plane. Waited a couple of hours and flew to Sydney, 2 ½ hours wait and then 14 hours to Johannesburg. Got our bags OK and then home to the Dunn’s our South African friends. It was early evening so we were ready for the sleep.

The next day we travelled about an hour to meet one of our partners, Sipho Maseo. He is a guy who works as a pastor in a pretty poor township called Slovo Park. There are a lot of unemployed people and thousands of kids. It was good to catch up with the difficulties they have been having and growth of the work despite the hassles. It was fun to see 60 little kids at a preschool running around in the church building.

Sleep was pretty hard to find the second night, jet lag, though we did manage to stay horizontal for a few hours in case sleep found us. She came quickly and then left almost as quick. Another flight to Zambia in the evening and all bags arrived, Kevin’s with the locks and zips broken off but nothing missing. A poor sleep in Lusaka, the roosters started at around 11:00 pm!! Then Saturday to Maplehurst Farm and the team. It was like Christmas, we managed to deliver everything successfully including Jerry Field’s chocolate. Sleep found us that night and now on Sunday morning we are feeling a lot better and ready to crack into the conference starting later today. We’ve already met a few people coming from all over the world to the first conference and the talking has started!!!

The call has come and we’re off to church. We’ll catch you later and fill you in the first day in Zambia.

Started this on Sunday and now it’s Friday!!! The next couple of weeks are conference time in the church in Zambia. Not being conference people, it will hardly affect us except, that kevin is a delegate and has to turn up!!! ho hum. Another 7 hours a day on his butt and plenty of talking between sessions!

Some interesting people at this 1st conference, from all over Africa. Two carloads of people drove from Capetown to Kabwe, probably close to 5,000 kms. Fortunately they are driving top-of-the-range Mercedes Benz’s. 47 people drove from Luanda in Angola, it took 4 days! The Angolans are a lively bunch. They also have a lot of stuff. The country is so rich and the resources are flowing down to the people somehow. They travelled in 9 Landcruisers and every one of them has a camera or video camera operating. I hope they learn to handle the new wealth they are accumulating and it doesn’t get wasted and not invested in God’s kingdom.

There are people here from Madagascar, Malawi, DRC, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and Mozambique. There are visitors and missionaries from Oz, the UK, USA, Bermuda, Spain, Brazil and 3 kiwis! So it’s been fun to meet a lot of people. The most enjoyable part is meeting a number of the BHW partners. We had about 16 of them visiting Maplehurst Farm yesterday. It was so cool to see them enjoying the place and each other’s fellowship. Today Kevin is off to the conference for the last day and Helen is hanging at Maplehurst Farm with the team. She’s having a string of headaches at the moment which isn’t like her.

Anyway, that’s us for now. George Verwer, some of you might recognise his name, is speaking today at the conference so that will be fun.

See ya later

Kevin and Helen.


heading off into the bush

2009-08-22

It’s starting to warm up here in Zambia. Getting into the low 20s I guess. The swimming pool at Maplehurst farm is filling up and the kids are swimming in it! You would have to be pretty keen on swimming really to get into it.

But I guess if you love something you’ll do anything to get it. That’s been the story of the last few days here. We’ve been conferences out, but the passion of these people is amazing. We’ve heard stories from Lake Tanganyika, the Republic of Tchad, Mozambique and many difficult places from African missionaries who are totally, fully keen on what they are doing. Then we’ve been listening to one of the greatest mission mobilizers of the 20th Century, George Verwer. He is so convinced of his message and his God that nothing will shut him up. It’s been a real treat to be able to listen to him and have some time with him as well.


Saturday last week we drove up to Ndola from Kabwe for the 25th Anniversary of the first GLO Zambia course. It was great to be there and meet many of our old students and some from the time since we left in 1990. Man, it’s 18 years since we left Zambia!!! Makes one feel pretty ancient and decrepit. We’ve been hanging out at the farm and tomorrow we head off around the Copperbelt of Zambia to visit some of our partners. It’s going to be fun to be out there again. Rural Zambia is so beautiful, though at this time of the year the fires are burning and it’s starting to heat up. The sunsets are enormous and spectacular.
We’ll give you an update in a few days and introduce you to some of our partners and their stories. We will be interviewing quite a few people this trip, we haven’t been to some of these places for more than a year. This is a short note to go with a few pictures. We didn’t have time to attach any last time we hooked up.


We’ll be spending a bit of time over the next few weeks with Jerry and Hayley Field and Sophie. I’m sure they will feature in a few of our stories and pictures. I’ve got a couple of them here. The rope and washer pump is becoming the star attraction. They can be made for $30 and pump easily, with hardly any moving parts and can shift about 30 litres and minute.


Helen’s headaches have gone but she has a ringing in her ears which we hope will go away soon.


Otherwise we’re doing well. We’re missing family but really happy to be here with our great partners and friends.


Tukamonana, catch ya later
Kevin and Helen


death

2009-08-31

We’re on the road travelling from a village back to the city of Chingola. We’ve been out visiting partners out in the bush at the town of Chisasa. We were reminded again this morning how the Chinese are invading Africa. They are everywhere, at least 11 of them staying in the little guest house we stayed in. They have their own cook and spread out each morning to look for minerals. They don’t greet you just walk past, the locals loathe having them around. Back in Ndola they are building a huge football stadium, no locals are employed, everyone has come from China to do the building. Anyway, we’re here to visit our Zambian friends.


We spent last evening hearing about the situation in the villages around Chisasa. The partnership sees the Kampelembi’s assisting 209 children to go to school, most of whom would not get there unless these people had a heart for them. Along with that they are running a carpentry training school, and they are developing a farm with bananas, pigs, fish and a grinding mill. They are such good people and very humble. Their house is full of children, mainly their grandchildren but 3 orphans as well. They want to care for more children as there are many needy in the community.


Last week a crazy guy killed his wife and three other women just near to where they live and ran off into the bush. 13 more orphans were created by that one act. Africa is not just about sickness and disease, there are many causes of death and hardship. The Kampelembis wonder how they can care for this new group of orphans.


We didn’t sleep that well last night. The generator, the one the Chinese guys brought with them, was parked right outside our room and didn’t go off till about 10 pm. There are no lights in the guest house but these guys bring their own power so the can use their computers and internet. It came back on at 6:15 for the cook to make breakfast. Kevin is all stuffed up with sinus so there wasn’t much sleep between coughing, sneezing, generators and a narrow bed! But we’re OK, back to some civilization by around midday.
We left Maplehurst Farm on Friday and stayed the night in Ndola. During the day we visited a training institution out in the bush behind to which Jerry and Hayley Field will be going in September. Met some interesting people there. We then went on to GLO where we stayed the night. Before bed we spent the afternoon with the Nkausu family. They are caring for 24 orphans in the community. We met 17 of them. It’s school holidays and some were away but these ones came with their school bags and books and dressed in their uniforms. Nice little children. One guy was so traumatised by being there with white people he screamed the whole time. We had evening dinner with the Muchimba family.
Saturday we headed into Ndola and met up with an old rugby mate who owns a restaurant / cafe. We had lunch there and watched the All Blacks beat the Wallabies!! It was a bit heart stopping and a close win. But good to be able to see it live. Good to win after the previous two games as well.


We then went out to Babs Patching’s place and stayed the night there. It was lovely to catch up with her again and chat the night away. Then it was off to Kamatipa village for Sunday. We picked up Rebecca Kaumba and got to the village about midday. We spent the afternoon talking to the team in the village and working out plans for the future. There are 25 vulnerable kids in the village being cared for, some are so very poor it’s hard to imagine how hard life is for them. One little guy, Willie is only 8 but he is very sharp. He can do any maths sum you give him, quick as a flash. What’s the future for a little guy like this. We’re going to try and see if we can get him into a better school so he can fulfil his potential.
We stayed that night with people in Chingola, we have known then since we lived here back in the 80s. The early Monday morning we headed off to Chisasa. Andy Patching came with us and it’s been great to spend some time with him as well. Hayley stayed in Chingola as it’s pretty hard on 16 month old Sophie to be carted around in the bush with us. So it’s back to Chingola. This afternoon we are visiting a couple more partners and then tomorrow we start heading back towards Maplehurst Farm. I’ll sign off here and finish this and send it off when we get back to civilization.


It’s now Sunday now, more than a week since I started this blog. Tuesday we drove back to Chingola and visited two partners. Titus Mambwe and his friends from 3 different churches are caring for a bunch of kids, sending about 60 of them to school. We met about 45 of them, they came for lunch. There were a few elderly people there as well as this programme cares for vulnerable of any age. We had a couple of speeches and talked to the kids. Then we talked to the leadership team mainly about how we can help them become self sufficient. Looks like a sewing programme and a farm. They are pretty keen about the vulnerable in their community.


Another sad story, last year one of the team we met, Ethel, was looking after a whole bunch of kids. Well about 4 months ago she died of cancer leaving about 8 kids. She was their aunt. We get so sick of death stories here. Everyone has one, a recent one! It’s like death is stalking everyone and here it catches many unawares. It’s so in your face it’s impossible to escape it’s damning claws!


We left those guys at about 4:30 and then went to visit Elizabeth and her kids in Lulamba. She has 30 kids in her community she looks after. She visits them in their homes, makes sure they get to school and from time to time brings them to her house to encourage them. They were there the afternoon we arrived and we played games with them and encouraged them.


Last year we interviewed two sisters, their parents had died. Their maternal uncle had taken their inheritance and they were left with an aunt who struggled to cope with them. One of the girls, 13 years old had really sore eyes a year ago. We had been able to get her some help, but on Tuesday we heard that she had been diagnosed HIV+. 14 years old, a death sentence, again. She has become so depressed that she failed her exams last year and has to repeat grade 9 again this year. part of the tragedy is that the people think she was born with HIV, the reality is that she was infected at a much more recent event than her birth.


We left Elizabeth’s place quite discouraged. We were tired from not much sleep the night before, but our spirits were damaged by the story of Abigail. We returned to our friends place and at about 7 o’clock were so tired we went to bed. Well Kevin did at least, fell asleep in the chair and then flopped into bed. Not much company that night for our friends.


The next morning we visited a potential partner and travelled an hour to Kalulushi and Oliver and Emeley Mulenga. We spent the rest of Wednesday and Thursday morning talking through the various components of their work we are supporting. There are some real issues to sort out here. So many kids are coming to their programmes they have had to cut some of the services. But this is compromising the overall impact so we have to address that. We have such good times with these guys, they are so hospitable and generous.


Thursday we got back to the Farm around dark. Suzy had cooked dinner for us. It was great to be treated like that. Kevin visited the doctor Saturday morning – bronchitis. And now it’s Sunday. Went to church early and then caught up on some emails and then some friends came to hang out at the pool.


Helen is going to the doc tomorrow morning – bad sinus. Not a good start to this week which sees us planning to travel about 1,500 to Chipata and back to visit 4 partnerships. We’ll let you know how we get on there.


In the meantime, I’ve put a few more pictures of some of our friends and their families and projects. Thanks for staying with us on this trip, we’re pretty tired really, too tired. Not sure how we’ll manage to get all the reports done, but I guess a couple of 8 hour trips in the minibus will give us a chance to catch up.

Love to you and your families, it’s such a privilege to be able to partner with these people and put barriers in the face of death.


Love
Kevin and Helen


sick, sick, sick

2009-09-08

Helen got the medicine OK for her sinus infection. That was more than a week ago, it’s been a sick week. Neither of us has been that good. Helen has got over her sinus but it’s taken both of us a while to bounce back. The team here has been unwell too.

Last Tuesday, we headed off to Chipata, on the border with Malawi. We took Annariette from South Africa with us as she was heading to Malawi. Hayley Field didn’t come as Sophie was sick. We got to Chipata OK. Spent the evening and the next day with Dick and Anita Mwamba, he is Zambian and she comes from a little island of 1,000 people in Micronesia. Find that on the map! 3 of their 5 kids were around so we caught up on what they were doing and the little community school they run. During the night Jerry Field started vomiting so that was him out for the rest of the trip. It’s a week later and he’s still not 100%. The Boddys who run the farm have been sick too with diarrhoea, we’re a pretty sorry bunch.


Anyway, on Wednesday Helen and I went out and stayed in a village and over the next 2 days visited our partners, spoke to 3 groups of church and community leaders and ate lots of local food. We travelled about 100 km over shocking roads and on the final day walked about 6km to a community school and back through the African farmland. The road was too rough for a vehicle. Friday afternoon we left Chipata and drove the 8 hours back to Kabwe and the Farm.


Sick isn’t just a state of body, we met a lot of mind sickness on this trip. By the time we got back we were sick of hearing stories of people making dumb decisions:


1) sick - two 16 year old girls with 1 ½ year of school left got pregnant and their parents “married” them off to the guys that got them that way. I reckon they have about 11 years of misery left!


2) sick - a Christian girl who has been through Bible School and who was engaged to a guy she met there decided to have a fling with a non Christian guy. Pregnant and afraid she tried to commit suicide amongst a number of other options she thought she would try. But Grace was born healthy and placid.


3) amazing – her parents have adopted her daughter Grace so she can continue to follow her dream to become a teacher.


4) sick - two years ago we met a family: mum, dad and 6 month old daughter, all HIV+. A year ago the dad died and guess what? The woman has just had another baby to some random guy and guess what? Another child is born into sickness, death and poverty.

5) guts – Victoria, HIV+ and 1 of 11 siblings, is 1 of only 2 left alive. She hobbled those same 6 kms we walked to give her testimony to the church that Jesus is alive and they have the responsibility to look after themselves. She, her 14 year old daughter and 80+ year old mother had grown enough food last year to send her daughter to school, to provide the medicine she needs and the food to sustain them. First time I met them, 2 years ago, she couldn’t walk and I thought this family would be gone in months.


6) health – awesome to interview 8 orphans who have been going to school now for a year since we started a new partnership. They talked of their dreams and visions and what could stop them fulfilling those dreams. Beautiful young people, full of life, energy and optimism. I hope they survive the pressures that Africa will pummel them with in the next few years. I hope they live a lot longer than 35 – 37 years life expectancy of a Zambian.


Tomorrow we head off up North into the Samfya area for a few days to catch up with partners there. Hopefully the health will hold up. I’m sure we’ll get to hear many more stories and meet more amazing people. I hope we stay well and it’s not just another sick story.


We’ll check out a community development partnership in Kaishe, a little rural village. We’ll visit our largest partnership ever in Samfya town. We’ll do budgets for a large beef farm that is developing in the North of Zambia. We’ll hear reports about a new initiative to train the guardians of around 170 vulnerable kids. We’ll check out a Bible School that has opened a clinic to support itself and an agriculture programme to develop self sustaining graduates. We’ll decide whether or not to put a rice mill into a village so the churches and community can assist the vulnerable to go to school.


And we’ll watch the All Blacks thrash the Springboks so badly that we’ll win the Tri nations! Wouldn’t we love that after the humiliation of the two losses in South Africa just a few weeks ago.

So dear friends, we’re sick of bad news and long roads. But we’re doing OK. Thanks for being with us in this. Just a week left in Zambia and then its lots of farewells to our friends before we fly to Kenya.


Its been great staying at Maplehurst farm with Aaron and Suzy Boddy and their kids and Jerry and Hayley Field and Sophie. We really appreciate what they are doing here, and we can see how hard they have been working.

Yesterday Helen was visiting the Boddys and someone came into the house screaming that a spitting cobra was just outside their back door. By the time we arrived at the scene one of the workers was beating the snake with a piece of plastic pipe and it was no longer a threat......another day in Africa.


We really appreciate your emails, blog messages and your prayers as we travel.


Lots of love to you
Helen and Kevin


another chapter closes

2009-09-15

We had a great trip to Samfya and tomorrow it’s goodbye to Zambia and hello to Kenya. It’s been good to be here, based in one place for a few weeks. From tomorrow it’s on the road again with no more than a couple of nights in one place until we get to NZ on Oct 21st. When you say it that way it seems like a long time. 5 weeks today!
In Samfya we met a number of our friends and partners. Let me tell you about a few of them:
1) Isaiah Chalwe – he actually lives in another place and travelled to Samfya with us. He is a great guy and trains people to confront their mindsets and take control of their lives. He trains them in sustainable living, growing their own food and food security. It was great to spend some time with him and hear the impact of his training.
2) Charles Chibale – he is a guy transforming his community. He and his team are supporting a bunch of kids to go to school; they are teaching people to grow gardens and giving them loans to start growing gardens and care for themselves; and they have developed a skills training centre.
It’s a very poor area, Kaishe. We’ve just had a team there from Christchurch, New Zealand helping to build the skills training centre.
We heard that for more than 40 years a Catholic priest lived in this area. On leaving the place he made this comment in a speech to the community – “this place is as likely to develop as the possibility of filling a 50kg sack with dead mosquitoes.” It is a desperately poor area and despite having water and land they just hardly grow anything. Since starting the kitchen garden loan scheme small vegetable shops have sprung up on the roadside, one small indicator of development. We talked to the guy who is the chairman of the Skills training board. He has started a garden and for the first time in years he has money in his pocket.
3) Mark and Carmen Brubacher – they are from North America and have been living in Samfya for a couple of years. They have 2 little kids and have given themselves to transform this community. It’s great to be there and see the changes that continue to develop in this place. They send their oldest child (6) to a local school and the kids are part of the local community. We loved the time there with them hearing the changes going on and the challenges they face. We could do with 100 people like that around the world.
Actually, as I think about it, we do. Actually, many more than that 100.
4) Samfya Bible school – we are helping the team here are developing an agriculture training component to their training course. It was great to see the gardens and the chicken houses being built. The best part was to hear the story of Talaka and Carol Mwenya. They are from the Democratic Republic of Congo. They have been involved in children’s work there with 230 kids. They are such hard workers and have a great attitude. It’s great privilege to serve people like them.
5) Peter Bobo Chomba – Peter is helping the community he comes from in Chaba. It is a very remote community about 7 hours across a lake from Samfya. They are looking out for nearly 200 kids to get them to school. We started to look at installing a rice harvesting mill in the community so they can generate enough funds to send their own children to school. This will be an interesting project to get this thing installed in such a remote place. A job for jerry Field and Aaron Boddy I think.
6) Gershom Kasongo – I’ve probably talked about him in previous blogs. He is in charge of two large partnerships: 1) KERO farms – we are developing a large farm to support 100s of orphan children and their families and 2) Beracah – a church in the USA is helping the guardians of the orphans to become self sufficient. Again, it’s going to be interesting to see the way this one develops. It’s like this community has a chance it’s never had before. Watch this space.
We travelled home from Samfya at night, a very silly thing to do actually. You hear horror stories about night travelling and the accidents. So, last night trip in Zambia! We take safety for granted a little and are constantly dependant on God’s protection as we move around some of the most dangerous roads in the world.
It’s warming up in Zambia and the swimming pool is now in use. The kids on the farm here and most of the adults meet at the pool around 5 pm for a splash and a chat. It’s nice really. Lot’s of people come around on the weekends, it’s a nice way to relax on your day off.
So we leave Zambia with heaps of reports to write and new conversations and interviews to process and heaps of decisions to make. I wonder when that will happen! We go right into a busy time in Kenya.
We’ll do our best to stay in touch over the next few days. Please don’t send us any large e-mails over the next 3 weeks, its back to using internet cafes again. So don’t worry if you don’t hear back from us immediately. It’s been a luxury here in Zambia to have access to the internet so readily. It’s expensive though.
So it’s Tukamonana from Zambia and Karibu Kenya
It’s into the rainy season up there I think, certainly when we got to Uganda. That will be a change, no rain since we left NZ about 6 weeks ago. By the way, there have been riots in Kampala so we are keeping our eye on that. It seems to have settled for the moment, fortunately we only have about 4 nights in the city, the rest is in the rural towns and villages.
Love from Kevin and Helen


it's us again - Jinja

2009-09-25

I’m sitting on the bed in the YMCA in Jinja, Uganda. Someone’s knocked on the door, I’ll be back in a minute.


It’s been more than a minute or two, in fact it’s been more than a week since we were in touch. Since then we’ve been in Kenya for 6 days and now we’re into the Uganda leg of the trip. We should have updated this before we left Kenya cause there we had 24 hour internet. Since Uganda we’ve had none and it’s hard to find out here in these rural towns.
Kenya was great. We were met by Robert and Rose Gitau and taken to their place in Tala, about 90 minutes out of Nairobi. We spent two nights with them. We visited the school they run in the local church and the little hospital they run. We then went into town and visited another little church they have started and met the lady who looks after it, Margaret. Then we drove for 15 minutes into the bush and found another little school and church with 200 children. It’s a cool little place and they are teaching really well. It’s very dry here, there has been no rain for months, in one place more than 3 years. There is hunger here, you can see it in people’s eyes. If the rain doesn’t come soon there will be a disaster. Already animals are dying, the Maasai people are travelling 100s of km with their animal to keep them alive. They even come into the centre of Nairobi.


We spent the evenings chatting with Robert and Rose. Their whole lives have been given to God and to the vulnerable. They have no kids of their own, but they have hundreds of children. There are more than 400 in the schools they have started apart from the dozens who have lived in their home.


We then went to visit another little school and met the people who run a revolving fund. It was good to meet the new chairman, the head teacher at the school and some of the other board members. We heard some stories of huge changes that have taken place in peoples’ lives from being able to access funds from the scheme. Great stuff. We travelled into Nairobi and had lunch with some friends and then went in Kiabiu slum to visit a new partnership opportunity we are looking at. We met the team and saw the people they are working with.


For the next 4 nights we stayed at a guest house and were spoiled to have 24 hour internet. Not that we stayed on it for 24 hours. On the Saturday Kevin flew to Kisumu and spent the day looking at a great new opportunity. A British guy started a hostel out in the bush for the community but has not been able to continue it. He handed it over to one of our partners and I went to assess whether or not we should get involved in making it self-sustaining. It’s in a beautiful area overlooking Lake Victoria  and is hugely fertile. We  think there is some real potential here  for some farming development.

 
Kevin got back late in Saturday and Helen had done a bit of catching up on the computer and some shopping to get our stocks up. Nairobi has some great shopping centres, she even had a salad. You don’t take salad’s for granted here.


On Sunday we met up with a NZ friend, Gordon Stewart and on Monday spent the day in the Mathare Valley and Kariobangi with our partners. It was a public holiday so the kids weren’t in school. But it was great to spend some time seeing the developments and hearing the stories. Met a few of our friends as well, Daniel and Magdaline, Gilbert, Paddy and Douglas. We have been working here for 9 years now, one of our first partnerships.

We also met another couple who have some really interesting partnership opportunities for us to consider. It will be great developing a relationship with Ibrahim and Diane over the next months.


Tuesday we flew to Uganda. It’s so different to Kenya, wet, fertile and a lot of trees. We spent the first night in Kampala and then early on Wed morning headed off to Katosi, another of our long term partners. It’s great to see the way it is developing. When we first came it was a ramshackle bunch of buildings with kids stuffed into makeshift buildings. Now it’s hugely improved, 600 kids, better facilities, mosquito nets, primary and secondary and a clinic. But there is still a lot to do. We spent the morning with Timothy and Janepher and two other board members. It’s great to see the vision being realised.

Then it was back to Mukono for the night and the next morning to Jinja. Jinja is parked on the edge of Lake Victoria, a lush beautiful place and the source of the Nile River. It’s huge at it’s source no wonder it’s so big at the other end. We’ve spent our time here with our friends Thomas and Joyce Lubari. They are refugees from Sudan and have settled here in Jinja. They have started a church and a school ad Thomas spends a lot of time now back in Sudan trying to aid development there. We’re talking about the establishment of a micro-loan programme in Jinja and an agriculture development in Sudan. All pretty exciting really.

The story with these guys is very inspiring, this last couple of years has seen them hit by one family tragedy after another. Thomas has had 3 brothers die, two of them this year and now he is responsible for all their children. The last one died earlier this month leaving 11 children, 10 of them in school. How will they do it, support all these kids and their own 5 and the two vulnerable kids in their home! that’s why we’re here, to come alongside people like this.


Well friends, we’re sipping beautiful coffee at the moment as we settle into the internet cafe for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we head off to Busia on the bus!! So we’re making the most of this!

Love from us at the Source Cafe, Jinja
Helen and Kevin


Out of Africa

2009-10-04

We survived the bus trip to Busia. It was fun to be at the grassroots. Kevin sat in the front beside a huge woman who was a fishmonger. I could tell she was before she got into the bus. The aroma spread about her as an aura and oozed out of pores and Kevin was squeezed against her for 2½ hours! Helen sat in the back and for the first part of the journey next to a lovely Kenyan woman who lived in a Ugandan village attempting to live out the Christian message amongst them.


But we got there OK and hopped out at Namungodi, a little trading centre on the side of the road. We then got motorbikes into Buhoya the village where we would stay the next 4 nights. We stayed with James and Gorret and their family. It was great to be there and to see how they live and how they serve people. Some notes from our stay: 1) we met with the board of the ministry they run. This ministry has a number of components including education, leadership training and micro-enterprise; 2) Kevin spoke at church on Sunday morning – the service went for 3½ hours! The sermon was obviously a short part of it, the rest we couldn’t understand! 3) we spent a lot of time with Charles who is the administrator of this partnership. He’s a really nice guy, we also went to his home village and met his wife and family including his father three uncles and their wives. It’s a lovely village with huge trees and lots of birds; 4) we worked on a budget with the board. It’s going to be a challenge this next year! 5) we sat around at night talking about the issues they face in the villages they live in, 6) we interviewed a number of people about the changes that have happened in their lives since the partnership started. We have to say, it’s very inspiring and humbling to hear about the life change and the mindsets that are being reshaped 7) we observed many people coming to their home to repay and receive loans.


It was all very inspiring and challenging. On Wednesday morning we left early and drove to Mbale about 90 minutes away. There we met Anna and Simon and took Anna with us for the next two days. We then travelled to Soroti and out to a little agriculture training centre where Miriam is training. Anna is the head of a family we are supporting. This partnership is 28 children who were disrupted by the Lords’ Resistance Army. They were found in Refugee camps and we were able to rescue them. So now we have the responsibility for them until they are all self sustaining. Miriam is one of the older children and wants to be an agriculturalist. So it was lovely to meet her.


After meeting her we travelled by a short cut to get back to the main road and 6 hours later we got to Lira, not having found the main road!!! One puncture and many “almost got stuck” experiences later we got to Lira on dark to a huge welcome from the children and those who care for them. The next 36 hours, apart from sleeping was filled up with: 1) working on budgets for about 4 hours, this is going to be a challenge. and these kids are growing up and tertiary education here, takes years. But if we’re going to bring real change here we have to stick with these kids and do a deep work in their lives. 2) We interviewed a number of the older children, their stories are very challenging and one day we’re going to write a book about them. Amos is a case in point, he will start university next year and wants to be a doctor or a vet. Just 5 years ago he was alone and on the street about to die from the severe beatings and malnutrition he had received while with the LRA bandits. Now he is a lovely, gentle young man and a total inspiration. 3) Helen heard the stories of a number of women who are all widows and who help the children. Their stories are mind-numbing and desperate. They are asking for around $US2,000 to help them become self sufficient, mmmmm, we’ll be working on that one. 4) Told stories to the children at night and many of them responded by talking about the things that control them and trap then into doing the wrong thing. They are such a responsive group; you should hear these kids pray! Every day they pray for Bright Hope World because they think of us as their parents. 5) we played some games and heard about Alan and Elvis, two brothers who are both HIV+. These little guys are so funny, especially Alan. What’s the future for them? I don’t know, they aren’t old enough to be on ARVs so it’s hard to know what the future is. They are usually well, but sometimes get quite sick. Such a shame.

Friday we travelled back to Kampala and are hanging out here catching up on sleep and writing up some notes. We’ve got a lot of reports to write up and we’re meeting a couple of groups here over the weekend. Last night we had a lovely evening with Desiree Stewart who is a lovely NZ friend working with Watoto children’s ministry. We went to the children’s hospital she is involved with and saw lots of little children, about 80 under 9 months of age. The smallest is just 700 gramms, .7 of a kg. Meg would fit into Kevin’s hand. Sandra died today; she was just too sick when they found her. These kids are mostly abandoned. The enigma for me was this, just outside the walls were many prostitutes plying their trade producing what was being cared for inside the walls!!! Damn this is a stupid world.


So tomorrow we leave Africa again and head off to the UK on the way to the USA.
Thanks for hanging in there with us on this trip. It seems like a really long trip this time but we’re getting there and are so blessed. One observation, costs have gone up in Africa like you would not believe. We’re going to have to review the way we do this thing in the future. We’re having trouble getting e-mails in and out in Kampala so you may not hear from us until we get to the UK on Tuesday.


Lots of love
Kevin and Helen


flying home today

2009-10-19

Where have the last 2 weeks gone? It’s been a blur and I can’t believe that tomorrow we climb into 2 more planes and get to hang out at two more airports, yay!!! Like we need more!!


Monday morning, 5th October we got away from Uganda without too many difficulties and found ourselves flying to London from Entebbe. The day before we left, Sunday afternoon, we spent a couple of hours talking to 3 young Ugandan guys. They are passionate about helping the poor and young people in their part of Uganda and want to help them to become self sufficient by starting a chicken project, each family getting a number of chickens given to them. It was great to hear their passion for the lost and the poor. We had supported the training of these guys in Zambia in 2008. The enigma is this, none of them have employment; they are poor. Very poor, poorest of the poor and yet they have a plan to help the poor. If only we in the West would get it!!!


We arrived in London and our friend Craige picked us up and took up out to their place in Southeast London. They live in the beautiful little town of Caterham. We spent two nights with them and it was great to catch up with the Amos family. Craige and Corinne, Beth, Joel and Ben were so helpful and hospitable. It was lovely to hang out with them and despite the weather; it was great to be at their place.


Then it was another plane and another flight from London to Chicago. We spent 3 days there, Rob Purdue met us, we hired a car and headed off to our friends place. Phil and Sue were there and made us feel very welcome. We hung out at their place for 3 nights while we had meetings around Chicago. We met with the mission leaders at Willow Creek church, talked to the Bright Hope people in the USA, met with the Bright Hope Canada people and had a few meals with other friends we have met on trips to Africa. Mike and Anita took us out, it was lovely to spend some time with them. There are some people you just like spending time with, some people who encourage and inspire you and who strengthen you by just being with them. Mike and Anita are like that, beautiful people.


It’s Fall here and the trees are turning into beautiful colours. Summer hasn’t been great this year in Chicago and it was cool and damp while we were there.


Right now it’s early Sunday morning and we’re sitting in north Dallas looking out the window as the sun comes up, it’s just beautiful. But between Chicago and Dallas we went to San Antonio, Texas. The guy we were to meet there had to leave so we had nothing to do for 3 days. So last Saturday we flew off to Sam Antonio, hired a car and a cheap hotel. Rob Purdue was with us as well and we had a chance to catch up with a lot of stuff. The weather was pretty atrocious so we didn’t get out much.


Sunday it poured all day. We went off to a church just up the road from where we were staying. The pastor is a guy called Max Lucado, some of you may have read some of his books. He spoke and the subject was the poor. He used examples from Ethiopia, it was very helpful and stimulating. We then went off to a shopping mall and wandered around the huge Barnes and Noble bookstore and got a couple of books we’ve been wanting for a while. Then more talking and a couple of reports, fortunately there was wireless internet in the hotel.


Monday the weather cleared for a few hours and it was a holiday, Columbus Day. We headed off to the centre of town and wandered around. San Antonio is a large city, 7th largest city in the USA. We checked out the Alamo where Davy Crocket fought and died and then did the River walk, a beautiful meander through the centre of the city with 100s of cafes and restaurants. It had a kind of European feel to it, very nice and relaxing.
Tuesday came and after talking all day and making plans, we took the rental car back and boarded the plane to Dallas, just 40 minutes and another 30 minutes sitting in the plane waiting for another plane to leave. John Stanley was there, our mate from Chase Oaks church that we are here to spend some time with. As I said, it’s Sunday and the last few days have been a blur of meetings. By yesterday we were so tired we could hardly stand up.


Actually, it’s now Monday morning, Sunday seemed to just disappear like all the other days we’ve been here in Dallas. When I think about it we’ve actually done quite a bit while here. We: 1) met with the key leaders of the church that are sponsoring a huge partnership in Ethiopia, 2) survived (so far) getting swine flu from one of the pastors, 3) met with a couple (3 times) who are probably going to help us get something significant going in the USA, 4) met with a young guy, Lane, who is going to be with us for around 9 months from March next year, he’s going to travel through all our partnerships and do photography and report writing, 5) spent some lovely time with Jeannie Pascale, out hostess here in Dallas, she is such an amazing woman with energy like it’s hard to measure or describe (we’ve laughed and shared and eaten amazing breakfasts, had fast car rides around the streets of McKinney, eaten steak and swum in her heated pool at 10 pm,) 6) we went to church at Chase Oaks 7)spent a lot of time with John Stanley, our main man in Dallas and Ethiopia, 8) Spent a morning with the elders of the church talking about partnership mission 9) met with a number of other people usually in restaurants and 10) done a bit of shopping. This is the place to get electronic stuff and we’ve been able to upgrade some things.


So later today we do two more flights and 20 hours later end up in Auckland. It’s going to be good to sleep in our bed again. The first 2 weeks back is going to be crazy, with a truck load of meetings but then hopefully we’ll get a bit of a break! Who organised this itinerary. We’re pretty excited though. There is just so much going on, the next few months are going to be crazy but we’re expecting some significant growth in BHW.


Friends, we will write again to sign this trip off when we get back to NZ and upload some photos for you. Thanks so much for travelling with us and upholding us. We know you’re busy and you don’t have a lot of free time, but you’ve taken the time to read the blog, pray for us and send us notes. You have no idea how much we appreciate that.


Lots of love
Kevin and Helen


last for the year

2009-11-07

Back Home, awesome, same bed, regular meals, family, Hugo.....nice.

We got away from Dallas OK, our dear friend Jeannie took us to the airport. It was so nice to stay with Jeannie, she is one amazing woman with generosity like we’ve rarely experienced. Got to Los Angeles with 4 hours to wait and surprise, surprise – an upgrade to business class. 6 hours sleep, beautiful meals, thanks Qantas for overbooking the plane. There are some benefits from having a lot of air points. So we got back into Auckland feeling reasonably OK.


It was great to be with the family again, Jared, Ruth and Hugo met us and we then caught up with Sara and Karl and when we got back to Tindalls Bay, Kevin’s mum was there as well. So it was awesome. By the way, Kevin’s mum has bought a house up here and will be shifting some time in the next 3 months. It would be nice to say that we’ve been resting up a bit since then, but, well, you know!!!


Saturday, Hugo’s 1st birthday party at our home. Heaps of people came around, it was great fun. Hugo loved all the boxes and paper, he got some beautiful toys as well. Dad and granddad have had fun ever since!


Monday, Kevin shot down to Wellington, hired a car and visited some friends in Raumati. They had been in Zambia working on one of our partnerships and it was time to catch up and see how they were doing, bit of a debrief. Then it was overnight in Levin and the next day up to Marton. Had to speak at a girls college, one of our friends is the head of chapel and it was a good opportunity to support her in her faith walk. She’s like a daughter and is coming to live in Auckland next year. It’s great to be able to come alongside people like her.

That night he visited a church in Feilding that is partnering with us in India. We reported to them and started talking about the future and a visit to Delhi. Then it was back to Levin for the night and an early trip Wednesday morning to Wellington for the flight to Auckland.

Friday morning, into Auckland to meet with Rod Purdue and Fraser Scott. Rob is our boss and Fraser is starting to work with Bright Hope on a part time basis. We met with 3 pastors who went to India with BHW in August / September. Debrief, lessons to learn and planning what the future might look like. Real opportunities to take up in India but a lot of questions to ask as well. Is it core to BHW, how do we engage church leaders in NZ and help them to lead their churches, how do we build into the lives of the Indian leaders we partner with .......


Saturday and an early morning trip to Hamilton. Both of us, Rob and Fraser were participating in a seminar for church leaders about how to become more effective in missions. Plenty of talking and answering questions, pretty positive time. We were at CBC church which has a cafe and uses Le Mai, BHW’s coffee. Good to be with a church that is grappling with the issues. Their leaders were in Thailand with us earlier in the year. Went to Campbell and Lorraine’s place (pastors) for dinner and then across to Te Awamutu for the night.


Sunday, Kevin spoke at the church, about 250 people, missions Sunday. Seemed to go well, people were challenged and encouraged. Lunch with the mission team and then a session with the church leaders helping them think through their global impact. Great bunch of people. TABC has been involved a bit with BHW in the past and we are seeking to develop stronger relationships with them. On the way home Kevin had a meeting in Auckland, we got home that night around 11:00, stuffed!!!


We had a couple more meetings on Monday and Tuesday and dropped Rob off Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday evening Kevin had a meeting with another church in Auckland about missions and Thursday we spoke with 15 young people who have just finished a missions GAP year. Now it’s Saturday, we’ve survived, it’s a fine day and there are no appointments for a couple of days and no sermons to prepare or people to think about talking to and what will we do with ourselves!!!!


Now it’s time to catch our breath. There are still decisions to make about a farm in Ethiopia, a chicken farm in Myanmar, some budgets for three other p/ships and planning the trips for next year. So there is plenty to keep us busy. We’re planning to start a new branch in the USA and that will require some thinking about and some planning. But the deadlines are off in a sense, some space for some brain rest we hope.


December and January will be pretty full on. We’re planning to be selling cherries in Auckland as a fund raiser for expenses. We’ll have 4 or 5 stalls spread around various parts of Auckland and that will require picking up fruit very morning and delivering it to the stalls. It’s going to be fun as well as a lot of hard work. But, the poor are our partners and friends, there is no option but to throw everything at the quest to alleviate their poverty and give them a chance at life.


We’re planning to have a break in Feb / Mar before hitting the air again in April. This will be the last note for a while, until we feel the stirrings again to pack our suitcases for another year of adventure. Thanks for the support and friendship this year. We’ve put a few pics up for you to see. We hope you have a great Christmas and New Year, hopefully we’ll be able to catch up with you over the holidays.


Love and Merry Christmas – even though it’s still 7 weeks away.
Helen and Kevin


another last message

2009-11-10

HI there friends, 

we said in the last note that we would put in a few pictures but we couldn't upload for a couple of days, so here are few.

For those who live in Levin, we will be in the Levin area for 2 nights, last minute arrangement, on Friday and Saturday the 20th and 21st November. Would love to catch up with as many as possible. In a few days we'll be in touch with a note about where we'll have a get together on Saturday evening teh 21st. so pencil it in, would love to see ya'll.

Kevin is off to Christchurch on Monday until arriving in Levin the 20th with Helen.

Love to everyone

Kevin and Helen


Visiting Levin

2009-11-12

Hi there friends, especially those in or near Levin

 

Helen and I have to come to Levin on the 20th November to do some business. It's a while since we were there with you so we thought it might be a good opportunity to catch up, if you're available.

So, on Saturday evening the 21st November at 7:30 we're going to have a meeting for those who want to catch up. It will be at Doug and Hannah Rowan's place, 35 Burn Street. Thanks Doug and Hannah for opening up your home. Hey, if you're coming, bring a plate as we're really hungry!,

We'll talk about this last year and about the partners we have been visiting and have some pix. Feel free to talk to others about this as well.

So, lot' s of love and look forward to seeing you there

Kevin and Helen


Happy Christmas

2009-11-26

 

Dear friends

This will be the final one for this year!! I seem to remember that saying that before!!! Kevin survived the time in Christchurch catching up with the team there and working on our various partnerships. it was good to catch up and be able to start a couple more partnerships.

We had a nice trip to Levin. Helen was able to catch up with her 3 sisters and be at Faye's birthday party; not her 50th!! It was an unexpected bonus to be there on that weekend.

Kevin was able to spend some time with some of our friends at Queen St Chapel on Saturday evening and chat to them about some of the things we've been up to. it was great to have about 18 people there, we have such nice friends there. Thanks to Doug and Hannah Rowan for lending us their home to host it.

Then Sunday am we were able to be at church and share for a few minutes. Lovely to catch up with more friends. We got back home on Monday. Kevin hasn't been well since part way through the Christchurch trip and is having tests to try and find out what's going on.

The rest of the year looks pretty busy tidying up all the partnership issues before the next year starts.

One exciting development has been with Jared and Ruth. They have started a new business. check it out on http://www.wurld.org.nz/blog/ It's pretty cool to see them going for it and trying to make a difference in the wurld.

So friends, Happy Christmas to you all.

We'll be back in touch in March some time before we head off to Asia for our 1st trip next year.

Love and all the very best.

Kevin


Happy Christmas - again

2009-12-23

It's a beautiful day here where we live, warm and bright blue sky and water. Christmas is summer, christmas is family, christmas is Jesus, JOY TO THE WORLD.

We weren't going to write another entry until the next trip, but so much has been going on we thought we should update everyone. It's going to be be great to have our children at home for Christmas. it's always fun with them all being silly. even though they are adults with big responsibilites, they become children again and the magic of Christams invades the family time.

Kevin has to speak at church on Christmas Eve and then again on Sunday so i'ts hard to be free of responsibility, but Jesus is so worth talking to others about.

Since the last blog we've both been struggling with health. Helen's right shoulder froze up and it's taken 3 or 4 weeks of treatment to get it working up to 90%. So that's been pretty uncomfortable for her. Kevin has had another bout of malaria with 3 nights in hospital and a slow recovery. He's still is only 90% probably and gets very tired. These trips seem to take it out of us. Mind you, 90% is probably as good as it gets!!

There is so much going on in the lives of our partners it's hard to know where to start. Christmas is very different for them compared to us. For some there will be no public Christmas, they live in countries where they are the minority. For some it will just be another work day. For many it will be spent with their church family as they have been rejected by their biological family or they have no family. So we think a lot about them at this time of the year. 

We are planning next year's trips and it looks like a month in Asia from around the start of April and then a really long trip in Africa and Asia from the middle of July to late october. we'll be back to you with the details when we have them.

So, we trust you will expereince more than just family this Christmas. We trust you will expereince the presence and grace of Jesus, the outpouring of His Spirit and the love of God the Father. Thanks so much for your companionship and fellowship on the journey this year. It's been an awesome year made much more pleasant by your presence.

Love to everyone

Kevin and Helen


underway with 2010

2010-02-10

Hey, 2010 and another decade disappears into history. Easy to look back at the past and as we do there are many memorable events and people. but there’s not much time to linger there, the future rushes at us and there’s no time to waste.


Thought we should drop you a note to stay in touch. The next 10 months is pretty much shaping up so it’s time to start thinking about the details of that and organise the dozens of flights and places to stay.


But first a short update. Helen’s shoulder has pretty much healed but while shifting house for Karl and Sara she fell and damaged her knee. So now it’s physio for that and also a little for her back. It’s a strange injury as she is able to walk OK, but around the knee cap it’s swollen and uncomfortable. Age I say, but not to her!!!


Kevin has continued to battle with malaria. He’s had two bouts in hospital and for a period of about 2 months has really struggled with it. But the right treatment has been administered and now he’s feeling a lot better. So we battle on ,much more aware of the issues some of our partners face. Many of our friends constantly struggle with malaria, it’s a constant companion. An unwelcome one too.


Christmas was great, we had an awesome time with our family and seeing presents and other stuff with Hugo around was hugely funny. We’ll add a p photo of him at Christmastime. Some friends gave us a holiday break up at Tutukaka for a few days and it was lovely to hang out on the beach and relax. We did a few walks and some snorkelling, New Zealand is such a beautiful place.


Both of us have been sharing with people and groups about BHW over the last few weeks. We had a women’s group on Tuesday, we’ve got a group of 15 teenagers this afternoon and evening. Saturday evening a small group just North of Wellington and Sunday at a church in Feilding. So it’s now all go. It’s great to meet people who are totally focussed on making their lives count and who are passionate about the things God is interested in.


This year, mmmmmm. Here’s are a few of the things coming up for your interest. Of course we’ll keep you up to date as we go along.


13th – 23rd Feb – we will be in the Marlborough Sounds with Rob Purdue to plan the year and develop strategies for Bright Hope. A few folks will come to visit us while we’re there. Might be some fishing as well!!


End of February – Kevins Mum shifts to our area so we’ll be helping with that
First weekend in March, 4th – 8th – some meetings in Taupo on the Saturday with a partner organization talking about how we can work together. Then we go to Rotorua to meet some partners / friends and speak at a couple of churches on Sunday. Rob Purdue will be here with us. While Rob is here we’ll also be visiting other people about BHW partnership.


March 9th – 15th – we’ll be in Christchurch. We have a Bright Hope World meeting there with a group of strategic people whose input we need. It’s going to be a fantastic time, the calibre of those coming is huge.


19th – 22nd March – Kevin is going to Tasmania, Australia, for some meetings with a church there. The exciting thing about all this is that there are people wanting to become involved with BHW and make a difference, we are now exploring what that looks like and how we can make it happen.


April is trip one, the problem is that Kevin is doing the trip in Asia and Helen is doing it in New Zealand. It’s just so expensive to travel now we have decide this year for Kevin to do a one month trip to Asia with other BHW personnel and then we’ll do a longer trip later in the year together. So, this is what they look like:


Trip one starts on Easter Sunday up to Thailand and across to Myanmar for 3 days. On the 9th April it’s across to India to visit 3 of our major partners. We will have people with us from the USA, it’s orientation for them. They are helping BHW to start up in the USA, it will be called HOPE World Partnership in the USA. We leave there on the 23rd April and come back to Thailand for 8 days visiting our partners there. The USA guys head back home and then Kevin heads off to Cambodia for a few days to explore a new opportunity. He gets home on the 5th May.


Meanwhile, Helen is planning a road trip through the North Island to visit our friends and catch up with people. So look out, you have been warned. Seriously though, we value your support and friendship so much and want to catch up.


Trip two is a mammoth trip starting on the 14th July. The plan is to have a few days in South Africa visiting partners and cleaning up after the Football World Cup!!!
Then it’s a week in Mozambique in some pretty rough places. So that will be an adventure.


Then through Zimbabwe and onto Zambia. We’ll have about 2 weeks there catching up with partners and attending a conference. There will be people there we assist from all over Africa.


Then a week in Kenya, 8 days in Ethiopia and back to Kenya for a few days. We’ve got awesome partners in this part of the world. In Ethiopia we’ll be working to further establish a school and set up an agriculture / grain trading programme and loan scheme to generate income for supporting other programmes. Back in Kenya we’re visiting our existing partners and looking at a new agriculture and tree planting project. It’s looking fantastic. Kenya has so few trees left and is struggling from constant drought, shortages of water and desertification.


Then it’s a couple of weeks in Uganda and back to Kenya for a 1 week break!!! Yay. During this whole trip we will have a young guy travelling with us. you’ll get to meet him as we report. He’s from the US and his name is Lane Davis. He’s going to be a photo journalist for us and is working for BHW for about 9 months. So there will be some amazing stories and pix from this trip, few of them will be ours!!! This takes us to around the 17th September and we then fly into Asia.


We have a week in Pakistan and hope that they are not attacking tourists at that time! The worst thing about Pakistan is that every flight I’ve ever gone on into that place arrives about 3 am! And if your bag is missing......


Then it’s on to India for 2 weeks. Really looking forward to that, our partners there are totally amazing and it’s inspirational to be with them. We always come away from that place refreshed and inspired.


5 days in Nepal follow India and it will be great to spend time with Niranjan and Sonu and their family. There are good things happening there and we’ll be heading out into the rural areas of Nawal Parasi to see the development as well as establish a micro loan programme.


Then it’s onto the last leg of the trip, Thailand, we have new partners to meet and existing partners to visit. There is the possibility of a trip to Myanmar for Kevin during this time as well. We get back to NZ around the 20th October.

You know, as I write this out, unless you guys are on our team it’s going to be real tough. There is so much that could go wrong. But, you’ve been with us in the past and we count on you for the future. Of course, we are totally dependent on God to be the leader of the expedition, but we need you guys as well.


We’re not going to count beds this trip. Maybe it should be toilets we have visited, but that could be a bit too much information. So we’ll think of something and continue talking about the people we meet.


We’ll be back in touch again about the time the first trip starts. We don’t want to become too much in your face or inbox.


Enjoy the recent pix.

Love
Helen and kevin


Off again

2010-04-01

Hey there friends,

it just seems like a few days ago and we were arriving home from the last trip. but when you think about it..... two bouts of malaria, Hugo's birthday, Kevin's birthday, Helen's birthday, Kevin's mum sold her house in Levin and bought one near to us north of Auckland, New Year, a trip to Tasmania, a week in Christchurch and a week's holiday up north courtesy of some generous friends. Wow, there's been a lot going on.

Sunday Kevin heads off to Asia. check out the itinerary for the stops. He's away for 30 days. Helen isn't coming on this trip sadly, we hate being apart. Helen will head off to the south of the North Island to visit a few friends. so that will fill in the time and give her lots of excuses for coffee.

on this trip Kevin is travelling with John Vlaming, the Bright Hope World (BHW) Agriculture Director. we've got a number of farming projects to look at, chickens in Myanmar, crops in Nepal and buffaloes in India. So it's going to be a varied time.

Then two of our team from the USA come into meet us in Indai and we check out two of our main partners in Delhi and Kakinada. you'll hear more about these as Kevin travels.

Then it's back to Thailand and another of our team joins us for 10 days.

feel free to drop us a note, hopefully Helen will get the chance to update this as well from time to time.

enjoy the trip!

Kevin and Helen


Hot, Awesome and connected

2010-04-09

Hot, that’s possibly the only word to describe the last few days. It’s been over 40 degrees every day and humid as well. John Vlaming and I are in Kolkata for 24 hours. In a couple of hours we head out of this little room we have been sharing to drive the hour, 15 kms, back to the airport. Then it’s off to Kathmandu, hopefully a little cooler, 35 degrees would be nice. Talking about hot, John and I went out onto the street last night and got dinner in a little roadside restaurant. The dining area and the kitchen were about 5 metres by 4 metres. The tandoori oven was in one corner and that added to the heat. The food was amazing, and we’re still alive this morning! Actually it wasn't too hot, the food that is!!


Actually, there are other words that describe the last few days as well. Amazing – yea that would work too. The people we met in Myanmar are great. Most of them are working in very hard places to establish little churches and care for the poor. The two go hand in hand there. One guy said “the poor are very responsive, the rich do not respond.” Pretty similar in most places I guess. The church planter or pastor has many issues to deal with in this community. The poor expect the pastor to support them, to feed them to transport them, to heal them..... the works. So it’s tough, really tough.


I’ve not had a chance to sort out any photos so you’ll have to wait for those. Sorry.
Fortunately we’ve missed the worst of the problems in Thailand. Hopefully they will all be sorted by the time we get back there in 13 days. We do have an issue you could pray about if you’re into that. Both John and I had our itineraries altered and it’s meant we have had to spend today in India before going on to Nepal and then coming back into India. The problem is that our visas both state that we have to have 2 months between leaving India and then re-entering again. So, on Wednesday when we arrive in Delhi we may have some difficulties. Hopefully the immigration people will be less pedantic than the silly little man in the booth through which we entered!


Not much else to report. Connected – that’s another word to describe the last few days. It’s been great wherever we go to have the internet. It’s incredible how this has change in the last couple of years. Even in Myanmar I was able to video skype back to NZ. 2 years ago you couldn’t even telephone. Though, hot does not go well with connected when the connection is video skype,  it’s too hot to have many clothes on!


So I’ll sign off for now
Catch you in Nepal perhaps.
Kevin


Kakinada - sweating it out

2010-04-20

Hey friends from Kakinada,

man if it was hot before, it’s sticky now. it’s like I’m melting away as are the rest of the team here with us. I was hoping to get some pix on this time for you to see but it's a bitof a task. i'll try next time, hopefully later today.

We had a great time in Nepal. Niranjan and Sonu are amazing people. a couple of year ago they adopted a girl they recued out of prostitution. Now, every day they feed 10 boys and two of them live with them, the other 8 stay with church members as they have been kicked out of home. I mean, this is on top of all the stuff they do.


While we were there we travelled out to Nawal Parasi, 170 kms from Kathmandu. We left at 8:30 and started well. half an hour later a traffic jam and 90 minutes later we have travelled another 3 kms. Anyway, we got there eventually and checked out the stuff that was going on in the project. A clinic is now operating and the really exciting thing is that there is a newly formed agriculture cooperative with 200 farmers as members. It’s amazing to see the change that is starting to emerge in this area. They have a dream now for the first time.


We were going to stay there for a couple of nights in Nawal Parasi but the Maoist opposition party called a general strike for the following day so there would be no way of getting home again. Then, the following day was New Years Day 2067 and a whole lot of stuff would be closed down. So, 16 hours after we left Kathmandu we were back again. It was great to find the Higher Ground Cafe with wireless internet to write up our stuff and get it out. We had a lovely time with our friends, it’s developing into a great partnership making a lot of change it a lot of lives.

We met Durga, she’s been given a loan to grow her business so now she’s training 3 students and making a good income. Now her two boys can go to a decent school and she is really fulfilled. A whole bunch of other people will be trained to sew in other parts of Nepal including a whole bunch of bonded workers who are like slaves.


We are really concerned about getting back into India cause our visas were multi entry but needed to have 2 months between visits, now it’s 4 days since the last visit. Well, John and I were the 1st ones off the plane and up to the counter and we’re into Delhi within 5 minutes of the plane landing, awesome. Thanks to those who prayed. We hung out in the airport until Susy and Linda arrived from Dallas. They are starting up Bright Hope in the USA and are visiting some of our partners to get to know them.


Next morning we’re up at 4:30 and catching a train to Dehradun. The girls are pretty shocked walking through the train station. It is pretty tough seeing so many people sleeping rough all crammed together on the concrete platform. Dogs were snooping around and little kids were scavenging in the garbage.......


7 hours later we’re in Dehradun meeting with students and hearing their stories. Next morning we’re travelling to Rishikesh, it’s a city on the Ganges River and it’s Hindu Festival time. Tens of thousands of people swarming into the river to wash their sins away....... for a day. Such a shame when there is such a grace solution to sin at the heart of the Christian Good News. Pretty amazing experience.


I dropped my camera!! It’s still working, just.


So we caught the train back to Delhi and caught up with our partners there and spent Sunday travelling to Kakinada, where it’s sticky, real sticky, hot. More about Kakinada over the next few days.


Helen has been in Levin catching up with folks and having a nice time with our friends there. I’m missing her pretty bad, she’s my girl.


Half way through the trip today, it seems like trouble is following us around. the red shirts in Thailand and we’re going back there in 4 days. The Maoists in Nepal and now they are bombing cricket stadia in India. So watch out if we come to your place! Seriously though, there is a lot of danger around and things can turn nasty in the blink of an eye out here. That’s why we need your prayer so much.


See ya
Kevin


Kakinada, sewing, lepers and vulnerable kids

2010-05-01

It sure does seem like trouble is following us around. I should say me, as I’m the only one left. The red shirts are causing a few hassles around here but it’s not too bad. I’m in the part of town in which a policeman was killed yesterday.


But, before we get to that, I’m about 2 weeks behind on this blog and so it’s time to catch up. Sorry about that. I was intending to be up to date. But you know!! Anyway, I finished last time in Kakinada and it was hot. We visited a number of sewing projects run by our partners there. Some were current ones, others were finished so we were able to talk to those who had completed their training. Amazing is the only world to describe the changes that have been brought about by learning to sew. Families transformed. Most men are agricultural workers in these rural villages. The land is largely owned by wealthy people and there is a feudal system of labour. Basically, the landowners also own the people, largely because they have accumulated debts over the years. And so every day the men go off to work not sure if they will get anything today. The women can now stay at home and generate some income and being at home cuts down on costs as well. In the process of this, the kids are better cared for and the women can earn more than the men. Things improve at home in every way. As well as this, most of the women and many of the men and children become followers of Jesus as well. soon after that, they start to question the justice of the system and begin to break free. We saw the same in Nepal.


We went to one church and it met in a nice little building on the front of a house plot with the house behind it. the house was obviously being built over a period of time, but it is going to be a nice house when finished. 2 stories, they are m bringing their vision into reality. The story of this family is great. The father was a drunkard in the past and used to waste his money and abuse his family. He was a typical agricultural worker until one day he was introduced to Jesus. His life was transformed and immediately he was different. No a few years later he is building his own house, has his own prosperous building, has donated the land for the church building, has his sons working in the business with him and there are more than 50 believers in the village. Transformed person, transformed family, transformed community, that’s the process we love to see been worked out.


We also visited the 2 leper programmes. Again I was reminded of the abject poverty and injustice of a system that treats people like lepers. What sort of culture builds housing for lepers next to the cemetery and the crematorium. I guess they at least built them houses. But the revolution continues in those terrible places. People are being transformed and I’ve got a fair idea where Jesus is living in India. It’s probably near to the cemetery and the crematorium.


We had 4 great days in Kakinada. Our partners there, Emmanuel and Jessie cared for us and fed us like kings and queens. Awesome people.


The 22nd and 23rd of April were pretty tiring. We left Kakinada about 11 am and travelled 90 minutes and stopped to visit a sewing programme. Spent an hour there and then went on to the airport in Vishakhapatnam. We were to visit 2 more projects but the people were out so we skipped them this meant we had a 3 hour wait in the airport. Then a one hour flight to Kolkata, arriving after dark. No problems with baggage and a short walk through the car park to the International terminal.


It was interesting travelling with Susy and Linda. Pretty much first time travellers in places like India. Interesting talking to them about the things they were seeing. I realised how much I didn’t notice anymore, the lack of signs telling you where to go (I either know the way or am not afraid to ask,) the smell in the toilets and outside the toilets, the filth on the floors, the spitting into rubbish bins despite the signs that say don’t do it, the huge brown spits of brown beetle-juice and the brown stains on the footpaths, the constant hooting of car horns ........ the list goes on.


Anyway, back to Kolkata. We had to wait from 7 until midnight before we could check in. So we camped out in a quiet little place and watched a movie on Susy’s i-pad. Yes an i-pad, brand new out of the USA. Pretty impressive piece of tech is have to say. People often stopped to have touch of it, on airports, on planes and trains and wherever it came out, people recognised it. we got through Customs and immigration and took off at 2 am. It’s only just 2 hours flying and we lost 2 ½ hours so we arrived in Bangkok around 6:30 am. Now we had another wait, the flight to Chiang Mai wasn’t due to leave until 1 pm. So we waited around, drank coffee, wrote reports and met up with Roger. Roger joined our team here and spent the next week with us. I’ll tell you more about him in the next blog, cause we spent the next week in the same room!


We caught the plane to Chiang Mai and were met by our friends there and taken to the hotel. Got there about 3 pm, been travelling with no sleep for 26 hours already. 30 minutes and back down to ITDP headquarters and a briefing by Mike Mann, the leader of our partnership there. I’ll tell you more in the next blog about him.


We left the next morning at 8 am having had the most amazing green curry in the night market in Chiang Mai. Then we spent the next 4 days in Mike Toyota on some of the worst roads imaginable. But that’s for next blog in a few days.


I’m in Bangkok now and leave for NZ later today. it will be great to be back with Helen and to be able to download my head and my heart. It’s been a good trip but there are issues to address in a number of our partnerships. At the end of May the 49 kids in the children’s home in Kakinada will be out on the streets. They can’t find accommodation so we’re working on alternative plans.


I just received an e-mail from our friends in Nepal. The Maoist Party and it’s thugs are disturbing the situation in rural Nepal and this may cause problems for the clinic and the agriculture project. Every business will be the target of extortion, threats and looting. They are plain criminals and in most other countries would be locked away for life for the crimes they have committed.


So it’s not easy for our friends on the sharp end of serving God in these countries. There are issues we can’t dream about. But we can stand with them in the hour of their need. That’s what partners so. We don’t walk away like the TV ad says, “spray and walk away!” At the same time we have to be sensitive and understand that we can’t actually help a lot, they have to work it out in their own culture and us being there may actually make the situation worse.


Anyway, thanks for taking the time to follow along. I’ll do a wrap up in a week or so and get some more pix uploaded. Hopefully the roads to the airport won’t be blocked by the red shirts who are crippling Bangkok and the rest of Thailand.

i hoped to upload some pix but am doing this in the airport and don't have time. so, next wekk i'll get some to ya'll.
Love
Kevin and Helen.


Mike's Toyota

2010-05-04

Mike’s Toyota! 5 of us spent 4 days in it travelling on some of the roughest roads you can imagine in the North of Thailand. The purpose of this trip was to check out where the La Mai coffee is grown, if you don’t know about La Mai then check out http://brighthopeworld.com/coffee/ and order some.


So on Sat 24th April we headed off south west from Chiang Mai and up into the hills towards the Myanmar border. It’s rugge country. Linda and Susy were pretty freaked by the roads and Roger and I were being guys, making out like it was no sweat. We stayed in the village of Mahojo, just a few families there in this beautiful valley. We checked out the electric generator and water project that is powering 5 villages, the school and the clinic and the little church. This valley, so far from civilization is being transformed by the involvement of ITDP. They are becoming self sufficient, won’t have to go back to growing opium or selling their girls away and the school means their kids will be much more educated than they are. We sat late at night listening to them tell of their dreams for their children, “they will have a vision we cannot have,” one of the fathers said. One third of this village of animists have become followers of Jesus in the process of development. That is vital if the transformation is to stick, there has to be a change of world-view.


25th April, Sunday we drove back to Chiang Mai and on the way stopped off in the village of Som Poi. We had to drive an hour into the hills on the side of the highest mountain in Thailand to get there. Here we saw how the coffee is grown and the start of the process. We talked to a bunch of coffee growers and heard of the changes in the last few years because of stable coffee prices. This meeting showed many reasons why paying a fair price over an extended period has the ability to change communities. This village is further down the development track than Mahojo and is a great advertisement for the power of development. We visited a coffee orchard and saw the bushes growing under the forest trees.


In this village Starbucks have built a clinic and we talked about the real value this is to a village who previously had to travel 30 kms on foot to the nearest clinic. Pretty impressive and replicable.


We got back to Chiang Mai and the news that it was going to be difficult to visit one of our partners in Bangkok because of the activities of the red shirts. So Roger brought forward his leaving date to the 28th April and I managed to bring mine forward a couple of days. Then we ate out at the Thai restaurant that became our local haunt! Duck – awesome and it cost about $4.


9:00 am on the morning of the 26th and we were in the lobby of the hotel ready to head of to the north-east of Chiang Mai for another foray into the hill country of northern Thailand. We convinced Mike that a diversion past the local Starbucks cafe might be a good idea and he didn’t require much persuasion. The town was quiet after a bombing at a local police station the night before; the red shirts had struck in the North, not surprising as the politician they support comes from this area.


We got out of town with no problems and the road was great. We turned off the main road and climbed through a National Park alongside a set of beautiful, spectacular mountains. 2 hours later and after the road became decidedly worse, we arrived in the village of Baan Pa Gluay. The name has something to do with snakes which really impressed Susy and Linda. We had lunch, climbed up the hill behind the village to see the new water project recently completed and saw the buffaloes they were growing as part of the project. This village is pretty remote and in the early stages of development with ITDP. It was great to hear some of the stories and meet the people on the ground who are making a difference. We drove slowly out of the village and along the road so the girls could enjoy the river ford, the log bridges and the sheer cliffs. That day got longer and longer it seemed. We finally arrived at Phan Ghong village near to Chiang Rai at about 8:15 in the evening. It had been a long day and a storm was about to hit. The meal prepared for us was amazing and the bed on the floor was very comfortable. These are Akha people whose ancestors came to Thailand because of persecution only 60 or so years ago. So they have no citizenship here in Thailand and suffer because of this. but their food is amazing and their hospitality. Of the 103 families in this village, 30 had become followers of Jesus. We met members of the co-op the following morning, heard their stories and drank some of their coffee freshly brewed.


ITDP was awarded with the best coffee production in Thailand last year, so that’s a bit of a coup. They got an award from the Princess and some of the people from this village went to meet her to receive the award.


Tuesday the 27th we drove back to Chiang Mai by the direct route, it only took 3 hours. Mike treated us to a lovely pie shop on the way home and we got back to the ITDP base around 1:00 and had lunch there. We spent the next couple of hours seeing the rest of the coffee process once the beans get back to Chiang Mai. Then it was a few hours break before dinner in an Irish pub and a crazy trip around the nightlife of Chiang Mai in a tuk tuk. I was totally embarrassed by the actions of the other 3 team members!


Mike took us to the airport on Wed morning, it was sad to say goodbye, we had been blessed to have his great company and fellowship in the car for 4 days. I came away from our time with Mike Mann and ITDP with a very strong sense that we could easily work with these people. They share our grassroots philosophy, our desire to see holistic development and transformation and have great people on the ground. I have the feeling we will be there again in the future.


Back to Bangkok on the 28th, into a hotel near to the airport and the girls decided they wanted to leave if they could. The situation in Bangkok was hard to read so they decided to try and get out. Roger headed off to the airport and got away OK and around 7:30 pm we went back out there to try and get onto a plane to London and then Dallas. I left the girls around 10:30 and they were to let me know what was going on. They got onto a flight which was then cancelled and spent the whole of that night and the rest of the next day in the centre of Bangkok in a hotel until the plane took off 24 hours later!


Meanwhile, I was oblivious to all this and on Thursday the 29th headed over to the North of the city where our Bangkok partners are based. I spent the afternoon talking to the Good News Team and had a lovely lunch with them. They are doing a great job of helping children to discover Jesus. The next day I met with Prasert, another of our partners and along with Irene from Malaysia visited and talked about their work with children and church planting. It was great to see them at work and hear the stores of life change and family transformation. We visited one family in desperate circumstances who have just decided to follow Jesus. Awesome stuff. That night I spent the evening with Lorraine and Val, two kiwi women who have given their lives for the Good News in Thailand. Very stimulating and challenging.


The 1st May saw me hanging out at the hotel until checkout time at midday and then out to the airport for a 7 hour wait until my plane. Caught up with some e-mails and reports and hung around. I’ve become an expert at navigating Bangkok airport. Went through it 7 times on this trip, it’s pretty impressive! Took off on time, no decent movies, popped a pill and woke up with less than 2 hours to go. The 2 girls next to me thought I had died and had to climb over me to get to the loo. Got in 40 minutes early and Helen was there, all is good, got home two days early.


Now? I’m going to rest better this time between trips. Not many meetings to take so that’s great. We have a lot of stuff to sort for teh next trip. we are visiting 12 countries and have a number of people travelling with us for various legs of the journey. we have to do some serious thinking about a number of our partnerships and a few plans to make. There are new opportunities to develop so we’ll not be standing still. Here are some of the things to work on and pray about:


1. A new chicken farm in Myanamr
2. A computer shop in Myanmar
3. More loans in Nepal
4. More opportunities for sewing in and around Delhi
5. What to do with the kids in Kakinada
6. A buffalo farm in Kakinada and setting that up
7. Partnering with IDTP in northern Thailand – need more partners
8. How to sell more coffee in NZ and the USA


And there are a bunch of other issues to think about as well in other countries. The world doesn’t stop because we are on a trip:


9. A sewing factory in Pakistan
10. Building a school in Ethiopia
11. Funding a grain trading business in Ethiopia
12. Finding some farmers to go to Zambia for some years at the end of this year. Maybe you are a farmer or you know one that would relish the experience and the challenge?
13. Planning a conference in Zambia for April next year
14. Setting up a rice growing joint venture in PNG


So, we’ll not be sitting still until we leave for the next trip on the 9th July, starting in Cambodia and Africa.


Thanks for your love, support and messages. We really appreciate you and your involvement in our lives and the lives of those whose lives are being transformed.


Kevin and Helen


Away we go again

2010-07-06

hey there everyone, it's time to hit the road again.

we're off on Friday for 15 weeks and a bit of a trek. i've updated the itinerary but will paint a bit of a picture here of the plans.

Before that, it's been a few weeks since Kevin got back from Asia and we wonder where the time has gone. A few highlights to keep you up to date before we leave again. It's been great to spend some time with Hugo and see him growing up, he's such a funny little guy and we love him so much.

We had a weekend in Levin and a week in Christchurch with the team there. There are some real growth signs in the development of Bright Hope World in NZ. A number of people are coming on board as donors and some onto our team. It's all very exciting. We had a day in Wellington with one couple who have joined the team to oversee India. James and Nicki Rees Thomas  are currently in Canada but by this time next year will be taking the load in india.

Kevin had a weekend in Wellington running a seminar, speaking at a partner church and meeting some of our partners. It's always great to spend time with friends who are on the same journey and the same page. We then had a weekend around Waikato and Rotorua with Rob Purdue visiting friends and partners and a weekend with Sara and Karl in Tauranga. So it's been pretty full on and now we're heading off for a rest!

This trip sees us spending a few days in Cambodia to check out a new opportunity that is developing before we head off to Africa. We have a couple of days in South Africa getting sorted and meeting our travelling companion for the whole trip, Lane Davis. Lane is a young guy from the USA who is working with us for a year as a photo journalist. Check out his photo diary at www.totellastory.org. he has amazing pictures and you'll have another way to follow what were doing.

We then head off to Mozambique for a few days to catch up with 2 partners. one lives in the town of Angoche and it's pretty basic and rural I think, we've never been there before. Then it's back to Sth Africa to catch up with partners. We have about 30 hours in Zimababwe visiting a new opportunity on the way to Zambia. Just 10 days there this year to attend a conference and meet a couple of partners. Susy Warren from the US flies in for a few weeks. She travelled with Kevin last trip and this is her orientation to Africa partners as she leads the development of the new base in Dallas.

Then it's onto Kenya for a few days to meet our partners and then Ethiopia for a week to catch up with Worku, our main man there. He is so busy it's hard to get a squeak out of him. Susy leaves us from Ethiopia and we go back to Kenya. there we are checking out  a new p/ship and Matt and Judy O'Byrne from NZ fly in to meet us. We fly to the border of Uganda to check out another partnership and then drive across to Busia on the Uganda side crossing the Equator on the way.

We'll have 10 days in uganda and leave Lane, Matt and Judy there and head back to Kenya where we'll have a bit of a break. Lane can't get a visa for Pakistan cause he's from the USA, so he'll stay on in Africa and meet us in India. Matt and Judy are staying on with a partner for a couple of weeks before heading off to Zambia for an assignment.

After having a weeks break somewhere,  we head off to visit our 2 main partners in Pakistan. we have a week there so it's going to be interesting. Islamabad / Rawalpindi for a few days looking at sewing programmes and Lahore to see the computer centre and explore new opportunities.

Then it's down to Delhi to meet Lane again and our partners and across to Lucknow to see the development of the work. A couple of days in Lucknow and it's on to Bangalore, hopefully to stay at SAIACS and meet our two main partners T Raja and Vidya Sagar. Lot's of stuff to talk to them about. Heather McLennan, our BHW office manager is coming out to join us and meet some of the partners she knows well but hasn't met yet. it will be great to have her with us and good for Helen to gain some female moral support! mind you, even if there were 10 males on the team with Helen we would be outnumbered!

Four sleeps in Bangalore and it's North East to Nagaland. We fly into Jorhat and drive down through Nagaland to Dimapur. We'll be looking at some new opportunities and meeting some key people. In Dimapur it's pigs, pigs, pigs. We'll be planning the strategy for the coming year and working on the growth of the work. We're hoping it will become a significant financial resource base for mission and poverty reduction in the future, it's starting to develop that way.

We then fly up to Siliguri near the Nepal border and after a couple of nights with our partner Primala we'll cross to the nearest town on the Nepal side and fly to Kathmandu. Niranjan and Sonu will want us to go out to Nawal Parasi where the work is developng and hopefully won't suggest we visit the goat village. That's a vertical climb for 90 minutes. it's also a Nepalese 90 minutes, double it for us large Westerners. They don't realise how hard it would be to carry me out of there!

Then it's back to Thailand to check out our partners we couldn't see last time there because of the redshirts and a new opportunity as well. We get back to NZ on Hugo's birthday, 22nd October.

So, seatbelts on, it's off again and welcome along for the ride. Love for you to follow along, we love your interest and crave your prayer.

Love, Helen and Kevin

 


hot and cold

2010-07-14

It’s hosing down with rain, has been for the past 3 hours and we are due to fly out of Phnom Penh in about 3 hours, hope we get out.


Been an interesting few days. Got to Bangkok OK Friday and the luggage had been sent thru to Phnom Penh! Great start! Off to the hotel without our bags and we didn’t sleep very well! Up at 4:30 and out to the airport for 7:50 flight to Cambodia. Mmmmm interesting flight. A couple of half-drunk Russians swigging whiskey and sharing it around, most of it onto the floor. A half drunk Frenchman from NZ all going to Cambodia. The Frenchman and the Russians almost came to blows on the way out of the plane. Welcome to Cambodia.


Been here more than 3 days and have met a lot of people and heard many stories. Everyone here has a story of grief, pain and loss. Went to the genocide museum, amazing story and the violence and cruelty was unbelievable. 1975 – 79 is etched deeply into the psyche of Cambodians, for good reason. And yet, still today little girls are raped and abused by locals and foreigners in this land, women are trafficked for labour and little boys are sold for sex. I’m not sure much has changed; certainly the hearts of men are desperately wicked and distorted.


Now we’re at the airport in Phnom Penh, we’ve survived:

Next stop Bangkok, 5 hours and then off to Johannesburg. After the All Blacks victory on Saturday it will be very nice to walk into Jo’burg!!


While in Cambodia we have visited some of the shelters run by Hagar ministries and met some of their people; heard the stories of many little girls, boys and women sold for sex or cheap labour; wished I could be in a dark room with the animals that rape and abuse little children including one 14 year old girl who attempted suicide twice while we were here; spoken to 12 counsellors of these abused women and children; seen a social enterprise business being set up to help with development, nutrition and employment; visited shelters for women, children and disabled kids. Hagar has a pretty comprehensive programme for the most difficult poverty and abuse and great people running the programmes. We visited some of the cafe’s and restaurants run by ministries attempting to release those trapped in the sex trade. The girls and women being freed are trained to work in and run the projects and in some cases have been set up in business themselves.


Our main purpose for coming to Cambodia was to visit one2one, a trust set up to care for the poor and address medical issues in Cambodia. The medical issues include running clinics in villages, poor squatter communities, jails and schools. It also includes training in the local universities and bringing in teams of people from outside Cambodia to help with both treatment and training. It’s very multicultural; we met Irish, Americans, Taiwanese, Singaporeans, Swiss and kiwis. It’s run by Annie Chen-Green a Taiwanese kiwi doctor from NZ. She’s like the energiser bunny, so much energy and passion for the poor, the hurting, the disenfranchised, kids and lost people.


Three days in Cambodia, I need a week to process all the stuff we’ve seen and we’ve only just started the trip!! Got to move slower, we’ve been saying that for a long time........................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


It’s now Wednesday morning and we’re in Johannesburg. Still the bunting and trappings of the world Cup are around and one hears the random bursts of vuvuzelas, but it’s all gone very quiet for the moment. We had a good trip from Cambodia to Bangkok, 4 hours there and then 11 hours on the plane. We knocked ourselves out and now we’re sitting in the airport waiting for our mate Lane to arrive. He’s getting in 3 hours after us from Zambia. We will spend today and tomorrow catching up on things and then we‘ll be off to Mozambique for a week.


I will now try to send this out. I’ve had a couple of attempts but haven’t really had the opportunity to get it finished. Our friends where we’re staying have broadband so I’m hoping to get it out and add a couple of photos.

35 degrees in Cambodia and 1 degree in Johannesburg. eeeeeeeek


Love from us, so far we’re keeping well.

Helen and Kevin


mainly Mozambique

2010-07-23

Thursday 15th was catchup day in Jo’burg. Well it was meant to be so we spent the morning catching up on e-mails and generally organising ourselves for the 1 week trip to Mozambique. We are only taking one bag with us and are leaving some stuff in Jo’burg to take north when we return. Helen spent a few hours in the afternoon with Greta and Dave took Lane and I to meet a guy for lunch. He’s running a recovery programme for people with addictions, interesting to hear his story. Then we went off to Roodeport to visit a couple who are starting a programme for vulnerable and poor in the central city. This city was designed for the elite whites, but right in its heart is a huge open sore, a squatter camp. In this place live large numbers of poor black people who are well below the poverty margins.


It was lovely to spend some time with Willie and Henrietta, newly married and giving their lives for these people. We will follow their progress with interest and see if there will be opportunity to partner with them in the future.


Mozambique on Friday morning, early. Flew into Maputo from Johannesburg and met our good friend Patrick. Patrick and Grace are friends from way back. We knew them when we lived in Zambia in the 80s and now they are long term missionaries in Machava. We arrived too late to visit the school we sponsor so spent the rest of the morning and afternoon talking to them about the development of the work. Machava is a large low cost housing area with huge problems, poverty and abuse. 85 kids go to school in their church building and then they get them into the local school. They disciple a bunch of lovely young people with great potential. We are assessing whether or not to start a scholarship fund for these kids to make sure they can get jobs. If these young people don’t get jobs the future is bleak for them. In the evening we went to church with them and interviewed some after it had finished.


Saturday morning - watched the All Blacks beat up the Springboks, it’s great being in South Africa having hammered them!!! Ha. Then we talked again all afternoon to Patrick and Grace about the lives of these young people they are helping.


Sunday – off to the airport and flew to Nampula, 2 hours north of Maputo. Then it was onto the back of an open ute for a few hours and we bounced our way to Angoche. A couple of rain showers kept us awake! Angoche (once Antonio Eves) was obviously once a prosperous rural town with wide streets, huge cashew nut and fishing factories, very productive and fertile soil, some magnificent haciendas, lovely villas and beautiful islands. But that is all in the past; the Portuguese have gone.


Now there are decaying buildings, abandoned buildings and it feels like a ghost town. Hundreds of kids roam the streets and play in the decaying parks. It’s a shame to see such potential being wrecked and destroyed. It’s a shame the way the Portuguese treated the local people back then, it’s a shame that the economic development could not be retained, it’s a shame that people cannot live in peace and see the big picture.


But out on the islands just off the coast there are huge changes developing. People once trapped in poverty and despair are being transformed. People with little hope for the future are now worshipping the true God instead of a false one and they are free of the burdens of fear and superstition. It’s great to see and experience.


Monday 7:00 am we walked to the beach below the town where the boats come in. We hung around for 15 minutes while our guys got organised and then we boarded our dhow. A lanteen sail made of plastic, no motor and the only 3 life jackets were snapped up by the guys coming with us. The weather was pleasant and we sailed onto the island an hour later through the mangroves to the village. My guess is that the lifestyle of these islanders has hardly changed in the last 1,000 years. We walked up through the village with a herd of young people following us and across the dry sandy inlet that is under water when the tides are very high. 30 minutes later we were in another village where the followers of Isa (Jesus) were gathering. We spent the next 5 hours with a remarkable group of people. We drank coconut milk and then scooped out the insides of the coconut. We participated in their worship service, shared some bible verses with them, shared communion and had hands laid on us as they prayed for us. We then ate a huge meal of cassava, rice, beans and beautiful prawns cooked in a delicious coconut milk. We then had to wait for an hour for the boat to come in so we talked to some of the people while Lane went off hunting for good photos.
Then, at about 2:30 we waded through the mangroves to the edge of the island and out into the sea to board our boat for the trip home. It was very calm and warm, like summer in New Zealand. The guy at the back with the sweep oar brought us gently to shore and we walked about 1 km back to our little house. We ate so much that we won’t be having much dinner tonight, a bun, a tomato and an egg will be plenty.


Now it’s Tuesday evening and it’s been another full on day. We left at 7:15 a.m. and walked to the Centre, about 15 minutes. We passed 3 schools on the way and the kids laughed at us, we do look like a pretty funny bunch of people! We hopped on the back of the ute for another hour and a half trip to the village. By the time we got to the meeting there were 11 people on the back with us. Helen got the good seat in the front, Lane and I were dispatched to the back! When we got to the meeting there was a crowd of about 160 singing and clapping and we had to shake hands with them all on the way in.


We sat under the shade of a huge tree and there was a lot of singing and dancing for about 45 minutes. Then a sermon by someone, not too long so that was good! Then we took photos of the key people in their zones of work. The stories they told were great and taking the photos turned into a large party. They laughed at everyone getting their photo taken and when we showed them the results were hilarious. This is a very remote area and many people here have never seen white people. It’s obvious by the way people gawk at you, especially Helen, and Lane with his big Texan beard!!


And then we were presented with a gift...Two pigeons in a cage....We’ve been given chickens, goats, rice and a duck before... but the first time for pigeons.


We had a huge lunch of rice and then it was back into the ute for another 90 minutes back to town with a couple of stops for a blocked fuel filter. We started with 20 people, most standing and they sang like crazy. We stopped every 10 minutes to let a few more people off and the singing got quieter and quieter. Got back to our house at around 2 and then at 3:30 we walked back to the centre to meet with the leaders of the work here. Shared with them and then had our 2nd huge rice meal for the day, with cows stomach! Lovely.


Back at base around 5 and writing up stuff and resting up. Off to meet with 35 of the key people tomorrow. Got to speak to them and interview some. BHW has been sponsoring them and helping with the bikes for the last 4 – 5 years so it will be great to see them and meet them for the first time since we started.


We’re stuffed, so it’s off to bed. Report back tomorrow.


Tuesday - We’re now in a meeting with the training leaders. Every week they come together to learn and then go off teaching and training others. They sang and prayed, listened to Kevin for 10 minutes, we took the photos of the zone leaders, they then presented their weekly reports, and gather in groups to learn. 11 of the leaders got new bicycles to help them move around their areas.


Lunch is cooking outside and it’s very distracting. In a few minutes their learning will be over and we’ll have dinner, more rice! Then it’s a meeting with the 8 main leaders here. After that, who knows? You’ll find out at the next sign in.

We left the training at 2 and walked home, 15 minutes. We went back to the centre at 5:00 (we’re getting good at walking) getting money from the ATM on the way past. We then walked for about 2 kms to Pimo’s (the administrator) place paying for our accommodation on the way. Had a nice time with Pimo and his wife and ate a tasty fish curry with rice. On the walk back to our accommodation we called in to visit a family of 5 children, eldest 19, whom the church is supporting. Their mother ran away 6 years ago and the father has major mental issues. So they live there by themselves. The church in Angoche supports this little family. It’s hot tonight, very muggy and cloudy all day, had to use the air-conditioner to get to sleep.
Thursday – we left at 7:15 from the accommodation and passed by Inacio’s place to take a photo of the family. Then it was 3 hours on the back of the ute to Nampula. We had a good trip with no stops for fuel blockages! Got to the airport around 11:00 and after a few hassles with a stroppy woman who wouldn’t let Kevin’s bag on as cabin luggage as it was too large! We hung around to see if Lane could get onto the flight but it was full and he will have to stay for another day to get his flight in the morning.


So we arrived in Maputo and the Customs guy made an issue that I had 800 metecais ($25) in my pocket so I “bought” him and his colleague a coke and everything was fine! So now we’re waiting in the departure lounge to fly off to Johannesburg in an hour. Not looking forward to the 10 degrees C it will be there after the temperatures we’ve had in Angoche.

After a 1 hour flight to Johannesburg we caught the new Gautrain, installed in time for the World Cup to Sandton and our friend Darryl picked us up. Our friends here are very kind to us, very hospitable and serving. Anyway, we got home to a beautiful meal, hit the sack and are now awake on Friday morning catching up on stuff. Helen’s computer is a real dog and I think we’re going to have to dump it and get another. The battery won’t work and now it won’t connect to the internet. There’s only one thing worse than travelling with one computer, travelling with two!!!


So friends, we survived the bush experience and have a couple of meetings over the weekend and Monday. That will give us time to get some reports out so it’s not a bad thing.
We’ll catch you in a few days, hopefully I’ll get some photos up to go with this, check them out on our photos. Forgot to mention we murdered some mosquitoes in our bedroom in Nampula.... and they were bloody....Not sure which body they attacked?


Thanks for praying for us as we travel. It’s great to hear from some of you, we LOVE hearing from you.


Love to all
Helen and Kevin.


One Day

2010-08-03

Monday 2nd August – in Zambia at Maplehurst Farm. It’s been a bit of a quiet week really since leaving South Africa a week ago. We got up real early last Tuesday morning, 3:50 to be precise though one doesn’t sleep well when having to rise with the birds. At least one of us doesn’t sleep well!


Out to the airport for a 6:30 flight to Zimbabwe. It was a small plane and Lane does not like leaving all his expensive camera gear on the tarmac at the mercy of the people loading the plane. But it all got there OK. Zimbabwe gets such bad press but we found the best of people in that place. The people at the border were very pleasant if a little disorganised. But our friends outside were waiting and what a lovely welcome we got.
They whisked us off to the hotel they insisted on paying for and then began one interesting day. We met with a high up church leader to talk about the situation and heard about the difficulties of living in Zimbabwe for the past 10 years or more. Harrowing is the only word to describe it. He was a really nice guy, the coffee wasn’t too bad.


Then it was off to Norton, 40 kms to the West of Harare. We drove past huge farms now relics of former glory days. It’s like someone has swept their hand over the place and just removed all the development of the last 50 years. We drove past farm after farm that once produced and exported food all over Africa. It could happen again if the right conditions were created again. I’m not getting into the politics, but there must have been a better way to bring about equity and more fairness.


We spent one day with our friends in Norton, hearing stories that shocked and appalled us. Our friends there are a family of three brothers and their wives and extended family. We met them first in Zambia a couple of years ago and they invited us to go visit. It’s taken two years! The 3 couples are Elecson and Rudo, Victor and Deliwe and Lloyd and Locadia, lovely couples with deep faith and great concern for people. They are trying with their own meagre resources to make a difference in the lives of some of the most desperate people we have ever met.


We talked about their dreams and strategies and then met the people they were telling us about. Maybe it’s a while since we sat down and interviewed people, or maybe it’s a while since we’ve interviewed people who have not been receiving basic care from others. But it was story after story of death, hunger, rape and abuse and corruption like we’ve not heard, apart from in stories from internal conflict or war. Maybe it’s the desperation created by the situation over the last few years, but at times the story tellers were in tears and the listeners as well.


We don’t think we have heard anywhere such accounts of rampant abuse and blatant cover up by the courts for a few bucks. The team here are very angry about it and are asking for help to prosecute the filthy creeps who prey on young children and who perpetrate such crimes. We’ve thought a lot about hope in the last few days and realise that there is little hope for many of these people in this lifetime. It would take impossible things, many impossible things to put it right. But one day!! That’s the only thing that keeps us sane, to know that One, the judge of all the earth will do right. There is little chance any of the perps will read this blog, but I put you on notice today, one day you will stand condemned before a righteous judge and he won’t be bribed. I was reading in the book of Psalms where it talks about the judges being gods, the only time the Bible refers to people actually being gods and in a positive way. You see, judges act like God when they dispense justice. I want to put all the judges who deny justice to the vulnerable on notice today, one day!! One day you will experience true justice. And if it’s not in this life, you will stand in the blazing light of The Judge... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

In the meantime, we are going to do what we can to alleviate the pain their actions have caused and love the poor. And when we do that, we act like God too. Sorry to get so worked up about it, but sometimes you just want to scream out in frustration and do something, now. One day Kudakwashe you will be vindicated and restored. And one day Monicah that creep that crawls into your bed at night will meet his judge and your virginity will be restored and the HIV / AIDS will be dealt with and you will be free!


So it was a disturbing day in Zimbabwe, one we’ll not forget. We’ll be back again I get the feeling.


The next day we were in Zambia, just a 45 minute flight on Air Zimbabwe!!! Not our favourite airline or plane. It’s been meetings and report writing as we settle here for a week before heading off around a few partners in Zambia. We’re here till the 11th August and then off further north in Africa.


Lane Davis has gone to the Victoria Falls for a few days while he gets the chance so it’s pretty quiet around the place. On Thursday Susy Warren from the USA office arrives, so then it will get noisy again, it will be a lot of fun. Susy and Helen might cause a few problems I think.


So dear friends, thanks for listening and letting us download the pain. The good thing is we are doing what we can and you are helping. Dispensing God’s grace and mercy can be a grief filled process at times. But one day!


Thanks for being there for us and following with interest.


We are always thankful for your support to us in so many ways.
It’s so encouraging to know you are praying for us, and we appreciate hearing from some of you.


Helen and Kevin


hanging out for a day

2010-08-14

It’s now Saturday the 14th August – Kevin is catching up on e-mails and reports in Java House, a cafe in Nairobi and Helen is off in the local Game Park with Susy Warren from the US to try and see a few animals. It’s a bit of a catch up day. We’ve only got one more day here in Kenya before heading off to Ethiopia on Monday. We’ll be back here later in the trip, a couple of times.


Since we were last in touch we have had Susy warren join the team. She is helping us set up Bright Hope in the USA, there it will be called HOPE World Partnerships. She’s meeting some of our partners and we’ll trying to give her an overview of how we operate. So, after she arrived on the 5th we have met a whole bunch of our partners at a conference in Kabwe, Zambia. We then did a two day road trip North and stayed one night at GLO Zambia and another night in Kamatipa village. This was a new experience for Susy, sleeping in a mud hut with a grass roof. But we have such nice partners there it’s easy to forget the inconvenience and remember their attitudes, servant hearts, love and hospitality.


Then on Tuesday the 10th we drove back to Maplehurst Farm in Kabwe, the next morning we were away at 8:00 am to catch the plane to Kenya. It was coolish in Zambia though starting to warm up after the cold of July. Our friends that run Maplehurst Farm, Aaron and Suzy Boddy are leaving Zambia a a few months so it was the last time we will see them there, next time back in NZ. It’s going to be hard for them to settle back into New Zealand. They love it so much there in Zambia and have fitted in very well. It’s been a privilege to work with them and look forward to the next steps on the journey of faith with them. Their kids are a lot of fun, Maplehurst Farm won’t seem the same without Toby, Max and little Katie. All the critters on the farm will be a little safer and less under threat of capture, and release.


It’s cool here in Kenya too. It’s 1:00 p.m. and I'm sitting outside, but I’ve got my hoody on. we had two nights out in Tala with Robert and Rose and laughed much of the time. Rose tried to murder us with all the food she produced! This is a tough place and without the ability to laugh, these folks would have left this place long ago. The poverty and need just crashes in through their doors every day. Abandoned orphans live with them, sick women are hanging around with their kids, dying HIV victims constantly come to their house and the list just goes on and on. All our partners are great, these guys exhibit compassion on a grand scale. Both are unwell. Rose has diabetes and constant headaches and recently had to have all her teeth removed. They now have a bill of around $US7,500 because of that. 2 years ago Robert almost died with asthma and often struggles with his breathing. They had a huge bill for that treatment hanging over them until recently and just as they were coming right, another hammer blow. But they smile, laugh and joke and love the strays that wander through their front door.


Their friend Muthui and his wife Hannah are not dissimilar. They live in Nairobi; yesterday we had lunch with them. they are the products of Robert and Rose’s ministry. They were young strays when the came through Robert and Rose's front door years ago and now they lead significant ministries in Nairobi blessings hundreds of people. A few months ago Hannah was diagnosed with cancer and has had radical surgery. In 3 days she starts radiotherapy and then perhaps chemotherapy. They too have a huge debt now, but you would never know it. They are full of joy, constantly serving people and lifting them out of the pits of poverty and despair. Today they are at a wedding, one of their boys is getting married, rescued with is family out of poverty with a little loan and a lot of love. Amazing people. No one but God to lean on.

Tomorrow it’s into the Mathare Valley. A foul place that it being transformed as lives are rescued, educated and empowered. It’s a shocking place and we’ll be taking Susy in there for the first time. It will be a shock for her I’m sure.


So dear friends, we’re keeping well apart from a minor skirmish with diarrhoea yesterday for Kevin. All better now. we’re sleeping like logs most nights, wrung out most days, sleep comes quickly and lasts long.


It’s awesome to be able to let you know what’s going on in this part of the world. We are conscious of our friend Worku, working really hard in Ethiopia. We’re sure looking forward to seeing him in a couple of days. We’re also aware that many people are now suffering in Pakistan. Our friends there are struggling to bring relief to the Christians there. Remember many of them are Christ followers.


We’re also aware that you are praying for us and following with interst and we bless you for that and thank you.


Love from


Helen and Kevin


a week in Ethiopia

2010-08-23

Monday the 23rd August, Addis Ababa, cool, wet and muddy. It’s been an interesting week with heaps happening and lots of things to listen to and respond to. This has been a week of Ethiopia and we thought we’d do a bit of a summary of the week. It has turned up a lot of issues for us and a better understanding of some of the issues our friends here face as they try to transform their communities.


The coffee in Ethiopia is great. One of the perks of the job so to speak. Ethiopian Airlines has improved a lot. The last time we were here in the rainy season we spent 3 days stuck in a airport because the planes couldn’t fly in the rain. They now have a fleet of new Bombadier aircraft that are very good. We had one abortive landing attempt yesterday on the way back from Gondar to Addis Ababa but they are a lot more efficient now.


Some of the things we saw and had to deal with:


1. We have never experienced aggressive poverty like you experience on the streets of Ethiopian streets. Beggars literally chase you up the streets and if your taxi is unfortunate enough to stop at a red light, they can literally break into the car to get money off you. It’s appalling. What’s even worse is the system both political and religious that produces that kind of poverty.


2. We met the Mayor of Gondar. Gondar is one of the major Northern cities of Ethiopia. It was the centre of much of the ancient kings and has amazing castles form the 16th Century. It also has a university with more than 20,000 students. So it’s a relatively important place. Worku, our main man in Gondar has been trying to get land on which to build a school for more than 2 years. he thought it was sorted but there was a demand to pay a lot of rent. So the whole situation still has to be resolved. The Mayor seemd to be very helpful and has written a letter to support the application. We had a pleasant meal and chatted briefly. Hopefully before long there will be some movement in this area soon.


3. The little kindergarten they have started is going really well. It has become the model school in the area and teachers are sent to check it out. They have great resources, something few other schools have. The plan is to deliver quality education, quality is something the government cannot deliver and that other private schools will not spend the money on. Worku’s policy is that quality will create real value and then people will send their kids and pay for it. It was holiday time while we were here so we had to trawl through accounts from last year and budgets for next year. As soon as we can get the new buildings built we can save around $US10,000 rent for the current buildings.


4. Some of the leaders have left and disappointed our friends in Ethiopia. Added to the attrition rate is Mebratu. He’s the guy running the school in Gondar and he has got a green card to go to the USA. So he’ll be lost to Ethiopia. It makes me mad that Western governments poach all the best people from these countries. You can’t blame them from going and taking the opportunity. In Zambia only 5% of the University graduates remain in the country. The rest are nurses and in other positions in Western countries while their own countries fail to advance and in some case go backwards.


5. We visited some very poor people while in Gonder. In one place the old people gather every day for a meal. It’s pretty basic but without it they would be out on the streets begging. We followed one disabled woman home. she lives with a blind 90+ year old who is blind and bed-ridden. No welfare state to look after her, a disabled stranger living in her house and bringing her free food. The disabled woman weaves little baskets with the painfully crippled hands. It takes three weeks to make one  and she’ll sell it for 30 Ethiopian Birr, about 3 New Zealand dollars. Do the maths, she’s not going to get rich in 100 lifetimes. It’s people like that who need the hope a simple meal, a smile or a touch can bring that BHW partners work with and reach out to.


We visited two other homes and the widows who own them were out, probably begging. But at least they have a roof over their heads now. we’ve been able to get roofs for their little houses for the cost of around $NZ200. It’s the rainy season and they would have been totally soaked for months had these roofs not been given. One had taken a loan from someone and she couldn’t repay it. So he was about to some and take the house from her until our guys found out and intervened.


6. The poverty is pretty extreme. We met a number of people who have received little loans to help them out of poverty. They will probably not become very rich, but at least they have the dignity on not having to beg from people, sell themselves on the streets or grovel in the mud for crumbs.


Two sisters have been given a loan to start a shop in at the front of their house. One can now become a nurse, the other bring up her little girl. She was abandoned by her husband after a few months of marriage.


Three  friends have a loan and have opened a cell phone accessories shop. They employ one woman to run it, one is training to be a barber and the other has a small peanut packaging business. We went to his house, it is a 4m x 3m room in which he lives with his wife and 2 kids and in which he roasts and packages peanuts.


We also met a bunch of widows whose children are being sponsored by Tear Fund. They got together and asked for a loan from us and now they have a little business making and packaging food selling it to restaurants and the University. Well they would be but the guy who bought it last time hasn’t paid them and they have no ability to force him to pay. What would you do! The whole project had ground to a halt and we spent some time working through their options. They had some, but none they could see.


When you have nothing and your worldview is shaped by poverty, you are really very vulnerable. No one will advocate for you. Those who are supposed to do it won’t because you can’t pay them. Even if you get to court, the guilty one will have used the money he could have paid you with to bribe the guy handing out “justice!”


While we’re here in Ethiopia, dealing with all the stuff we confront here we are very aware of our friends in Pakistan and the people they work with. What a shocking situation for so many people. We’ve got a number of e-mails from people asking if they can give, the answer is, yes you can. Bright Hope World has listed status in NZ so can give you a tax receipt for funds you give even though it’s going offshore. It will be used with our partners in Pakistan to alleviate the situation there, especially for Christians. Christian people will get little or no relief from non Christian agencies if you get me drift. They will get international help like all others, but they will be cut out of local help. So our friends will be assisting the Christians to get something.


If you’re not sure how bad it is, it’s worse than the Asian tsunami, Samoa, Haiti, Hurricane Katrina and the latest floods in China all combined in terms of people affected and losses to property. If you want to do something then go to the BHW website and contact the office, we will be there in less than 4 weeks to see it firsthand. Of course, our major emphasis will be rebuilding people’s lives.


Tomorrow its back to Nairobi and the next day we do a road trip to see another partnership opportunity with a couple we met last year. They are very enthusiastic and have lots of energy and the husband is a real visionary. I think there will be a lot of opportunities emerge from that one.


From a cool and damp Addis Ababa, did we mention the coffee is great

We appreciate you taking the time to read  our blog and pray for us and our partners. Its over six weeks since we left NZ and we are very thankful for good health and safety.....and our bags arriving with us after every flight. 
Love from


Helen and Kevin


uganda

2010-09-04

Wow, where has the last few days gone. We’ve just got into an internet cafe and heard of the earthquake in Christchurch. Such a shame, seems much safer in Uganda. We’re thinking of our friends there. We can’t access the BHW server in NZ at the moment so we have heaps of e-mails to get in and out.


We got back from Addis Ababa OK to Nairobi. The trip out to Garissa was real interesting. It’s a totally Muslim community and our friends there are developing a school and a clinic. It’s like being in the desert. Camels wander everywhere, it’s kind of surreal. We drove for 6 hours out to there and then back the next day. it was great to spend time in the car with Ibrahim and Diane Omondi and get to know them. there could be some great opportunities in the future with agriculture and tree planting.


Helen was suffering with a dose of the you-know-whats so stayed in Nairobi; spent most of the two days in bed. Actually it’s lasted for a week but she’s doing OK now. The day we arrived back from Garissa our friends Matt and Judy O’Byrne from NZ came in. So it was catch up time with them that evening. We then had a day off and caught up on things and that evening had dinner with Jude Goatley, she used to work with us at BHW and now is living in Nairobi. It was great to catch up and see that’s she is doing well there in the city.
Saturday, a week ago saw us out at the airport early flying out to Kisumu in the West of Kenya and then driving out to Maseno. We spent two nights with our friends in the children’s home working on strategy. There are a lot of opportunities here as well as the guys seek to develop and school for the kids from Mathare. Mathare is such a horrible place it would be great to get them out of there, Maseno is a good option.


Two nights there and then across the border into Uganda. It seems such a long time ago. We spent a night in the Rand Hotel in Busia and the two nights out in the bush with our friends. We heard many stories of education triumphs and the impact of micro-loans on the community. We’re pretty encouraged with what’s going on there.


Then on Thursday another 2 hour bus trip to Jinja and more stories of progress and the impact of loans with our friends Timothy and Janepher from Katosi and Thomas and Joyce from Jinja. Yesterday we spent the afternoon in a very basic informal housing area where Thomas and Joyce have started a church. Great stories of change occurring in the lives of people with little loans. Most of these people are refugees from Sudan scraping and begging and existence.


So this week it’s been:
1. Huge new opportunities to develop
2. Significant impact from small loans
3. Poor kids graduating from universities with degrees and doctorates
4. Lot’s of great people interviewed
5. Great coffee at the Source cafe in Jinja.


Tomorrow we drive off to Lira. It’s about 6 hours away and we’ll be there for about 3 days. We’re then trying to get a few days break before we head off to Pakistan. I think we’ll need some energy there.


Love to all, sorry for the shorter note, we’re struggling with the internet a little here. Can’t get e-mails, maybe related to the earthquake in Chch and our server not working.
Love to all, hoping to get some photos up in the next week.


Kevin and Helen.


Lira and a break

2010-09-11

We had a great trip to Lira from Jinja, Sunday 5th. We hired a vehicle between the 5 of us to keep the price down, sure made for a pleasant ride compared to the options. It was father’s day in NZ. Heard from all our kids via Facebook so that was nice.

Lira, mmmmmmm. Every time we go there we are reminded of the depravity of so many people. we heard more stories of the terrible trauma people have faced and the few resources they have to deal with it all. Highlights of our time in Lira were:

• Meeting with our good friends again, Penninah, Anna and Simon. They are such nice people. They overwhelm you with kindness, and food!

• Interviewing some of the widows in the newly started loan scheme. Sheesh the poverty is overwhelming. Some are selling 2nd hand clothes in a market designated by the local council, in the middle of a storm water runoff area. So what happens when it rains!!!! Right through the middle of the ramshackle stalls. There are hundreds of places this could work, but no, they designate this place! The councillor with us was very proud of his organising ability and when it started raining wasn’t the least bit concerned that they all had to pack up and leave. Another group are breaking rocks to sell. They lever them out of the hillside and heat them in a fire to crack them. Then they lay into them with various sized hammers to chip them down to gravel for roads and concrete. Tough work, hard hands, sharp stone chips, no protection. They don’t want to do anything else. They can’t imagine anything else I guess. Both the young women, sisters, doing this had their husbands hacked to death in front of them by the LRA and now have 3 kids each to care for and educate.


• The grinding mill. Simon has been building the grinding mill factory. The size of it surprised us; he has big plans for the mill and the business. He wants it to fully support these kids.Great stuff Simon. The neighbour is taking him to court for the building and it’s costing a lot of money. Basically he’s jealous about it all and is trying by all means to stop the mill being built. So that’s a snag. They went to court Thursday and the idiot didn’t show up, so now it’s put off for another month. Uganda is so corrupt, I’ve rarely seen anything like it, it’s everywhere. You get to the point where you cannot believe anything that people say to you.


• We met the mayor of the city, he showed up one night for dinner with us. He appears to be a nice guy and supportive of our friends. He’s seeking re-election as mayor for the 3rd 5 year term.


• Rain, it rained every night we were there so we had to wait until the thunder stopped and then dash the 500 meters down the road in the dark to the hotel we were staying in. they said we had bought the rain, it was a blessing and they were thankful.


• The kids in the Home. They are such lovely little guys and girls. They are always playing, singing, dancing, telling stories and laughing. It was nice to see Emmanuel again. He was having real problems a year ago but our talking with him last year really helped and now he is a transformed little guy. Alan and his bother Elvis are HIV+ and Alan isn’t growing or doing well at school. So that’s a concern. Amos wrote a book for us about his story. My goodness, it’s a terrible story but he has found redemption and hope, very inspiring. Is it a book to publish? Mmmmm, something to think about. Visiting Lira is really all about the kids. That’s why we are here. All the other stuff has sprung out of our interest in this family of 28 children.

We’ve got a lot to think about in the next few months, especially with all the stories and photos Lane is taking, 100s and 100s of photos a day. What do we do with them? How do we use them to tell the stories of our people? How do we generate interest in poverty or BHW? How do we generate funds to help? So many questions, not a lot of answers at the moment. Check out some of Lane’s stories, thoughts and images on http://totellastory.org/

We had just 3 nights in Lira and left there on Wednesday. We are having a break for a few days, which we planned from the start of the trip. So we’ve had a couple of nights in a Game Park and visited the Murchison Falls. The Nile Rover drops 45 metres of an escarpment and through a 7 metre wide chasm. It’s very impressive. We saw some lovely animals and birds as well.

We said goodbye to Matt and Judy O’Byrne in Lira. We had been together for a couple of weeks and it was lovely to spend time with them. They are such a generous couple and willing to give anything a go. They are still in Lira and over the weekend go to Mbale to visit another partnership and next week move on to another of our partnerships for a couple of days. They fly out to Zambia on the 18th. Thanks guys, we look forward to continuing the journey with you in the future. We left Lane Davis in Lira as well. Looking forward to the stories and images he produces from there, it is truly an amazing story. We’ll catch up with him again in about 2 weeks in India.

Yesterday we travelled from Murchison Falls to Kampala. The first leg was in a nice minibus with 4 tourists, a couple from Israel, Anoushka from Poland working in South Sudan and Harvey, a retired lawyer from Vancouver. We had a lot of laughs and chats for the 90 minutes we were together. We actually had dinner the evening before with Harvey so knew a little about him. Really nice people. They dropped us at a mini bus station so we waited till the bus was full and then headed off for Kampala. It was fun, only 3 hours so not too bad. We hired an extra seat so our luggage was inside, fortunately we did as we came through 2 very heavy downpours. The 3rd leg was when we arrived in the chaos called the Kampala new taxi station. Helen stayed in the van and kevin went searching for a taxi. After about 15 minutes we located one and a guy hoisted out 40 kg of luggage onto his head and we followed to the taxi which brought us to the New City Annex Hotel, a grand name for a pleasant little hotel near the centre of town. It’s close to most places we want to be here in Kampala.

Talking about “the night before” we were in a really interesting discussion about oil in Uganda. The last night we were at Murchison Falls 3 guys came into the restaurant. They were obviously not tourists, in their working gear. After they had eaten and had a few beers they started to talk about what they were doing. They have found massive deposits of oil in Murchison Park and were the exploration team. It’s absolutely huge they say. All The guests around broke out into questioning them about how it works and the impact n the environment etc. As we drove out of the Park the next morning we stopped to look out over the beautiful rain forest and bush spread out in panorama below us and wondered if this might be another place where the planet is ripped apart and another animal sanctuary is obliterated by man’s greed. Hopefully they can do it in a sustainable way. Somehow, I doubt it. Hundreds of oil wells, accommodation for 1000’s of workers, an underground pipeline to Mombassa about 1,500 km away where they will build a refinery before it is all shipped off to China! Say no more. The end of another piece of paradise.

Now it’s a couple of days in Kampala and tomorrow we head off to Nairobi and Mombassa. We’ll have 5 days there before we head off to Pakistan. Not sure what we’re thinking about in regards to that one. We’ll be visiting our partners and the projects they run, but we’ll have to get out to where the floods have been so destructive. We hear that a lot of people have sent funds to help there. That’s great because there is a lot of resistance about giving to that place. Our partners are working with the poorest of the poor there, most of the poorest people there are Christians and they will be the last inline for help from any govt agencies.

So friends, we’ll sign off and leave you in peace.

Thanks again for your friendship, support and prayer. We’re looking forward to some relaxation for a few days and some catch up.

Love

Kevin and Helen


Pakistan

2010-09-22

Pakistan – fascinating place. Of course the news is full of the floods and devastation. We haven’t been to the floods, it’s too dangerous for us to go without accreditation and security. So we’ve been spending time with our partners in Islamabad. We had planned to come here before the floods hit, so we’ve been sticking with the plan.

We arrived around 4:00 am Saturday morning and were the last ones through immigration. But the bags were slow and we still had to wait a while. It was around 5:00 am before we cleared out of the terminal and about 5:30 we arrived at our friends place. After a few hours sleep went off to visit a sewing programme then back home for lunch and a rest. Then in the evening it was back to the sewing centre and the graduation. After a year of study 25 women received certificates which of course we presented. Then after Kevin gave a rousing speech, we presented 7 students with sewing machines, it you pass the exam with 70% or more you get one. Then back home for dinner at about 10:00 p.m.
We have both been pampered with foot massages from the family we were staying with and kevin gets the extra attention with some back ones...Nice !!
We’re struggling with the high carb, late at night meals and the next 4 days there will be many more of those. Sunday we went to church and of course Kevin had to speak again! After church we talked to the church people about the need for them to stop thinking they are poor and to take control of their lives. There were lots of questions. Urban poverty is not an easy issue to deal with, even those who have jobs are poor by anyone’s standards.

Sunday afternoon and evening we talked and wrote reports and did e-mails. Monday we visited the school that Barbara has started and talked about possibilities there for partnership and looked around Rawalpindi. Rawalpindi and Islamabad are twin cities. Monday evening we drove into Islamabad and had dinner outside with the family. Tuesday we talked budgets and further opportunities in places like Kashmir. Mmmmmm not sure I’m too keen to go there but that’s what they want us to do next time here.

At the moment we’re in a bus travelling 4 ½ hours from Islamabad to Lahore. We’re going through amazing country. You would never know there were floods in other places. Here it is beautifully green and every square metre is cultivated with grain.

Both of our friends here in Pakistan have been helping in the flood areas. It’s been great to see the number of people who have given. We’ve seen lots of pictures of the problems and camps, this is truly a catastrophe. The funds given have gone to food in the first instance but from now on will be aimed at medium term issues. Winter is coming so clothes and blankets will be in great demand. Out friends will be back there in a few days to take loads of blankets.

The bus is comfortable and road we’re on is great. About another 40 minutes to go.

Before coming to Pakistan we had a few days break, just got away by ourselves to rest up a bit and catch up. it was great, first time in Mombassa. We lounged around and Kevin even went bird watching! Then last Friday we flew from Mombassa to Nairobi and spent a few hours in the airport before a 5 hour flight to Doha. Then a couple of hours and onto the 3 ½ hour flight to Islamabad. It was all pretty painless really. Hopefully the rest of the trip goes as smoothly.

Saturday we’re off to Delhi and have 3 days there. From all accounts the Commonwealth Games are about to start, or maybe not. There could be a lot of people and I’m sure a lot of security, especially seeing we’re coming from Pakistan.

Anyway, we’ve got about a month left on this trip. we get home on the 22nd October and although it’s a month away we’re starting to think of home and seeing family again. Hopefully we’ll get this out at Lahore. We’ve funded a computer centre there so hopefully we’ll get to use it. We’ll then update again in Delhi and hopefully get a few pictures up.

We’re keeping really well so that makes travel a lot easier. We have such generous friends wherever we go it’s amazing. They worry about a lot more than we worry. Our friends in Islamabad were very concerned about us going by bus and wanted to drive us. But we finally got our way. Helen has been given some lovely Pakistani clothing and jewellery which she’ll wear while in this part of the world. It’s very comfortable and she looks just like a local from a distance.

It’s meant to be over 30oC in Lahore this week!! I hope we survive! Hope you’re not too cold wherever you are in the world?

Thanks again for following our blog and we appreciate your prayers and emails.
We LOVE hearing from our family and friends!

Well, we’re in Lahore, in the Punjab. There are army and Police all along the roads, little boys are playing cricket, no-one on the roads looks sideways or backwards, a bunch of people dressed in yellow are sweeping the road, another army guy, two donkeys pulling trailers are doing U-turns at the traffic lights and are holding up the cars. The policeman is waving furiously and the two guys on the trailers are laughing at everyone. Two more army guys with machine guns, that motorbiker is getting a ticket, the bus stop is full of fruit vendors and rickshaws.

Love from
Helen and Kevin


Pakistan and North India

2010-09-30

Lahore was an interesting time. We stayed with a lovely family who looked after us very well. We were given a lovely bedroom with an air conditioner which helped at night. Mister and Mrs Manzoor Jalal live in the house with their family. He works as an electrical engineer in a sewing factory and she runs the home. He is also the leader of EGM, our partners here.

Eldest son Edward Qasar and his wife Shakeela also live there. He was a teacher but he now pastora a church and leading the work. for example he had just come back from 25 hours on a train from the coast in the middle of the floods. He had been down there delivering the funds to help that BHW had sent them. 1,100 km with the train stopping and breaking down all the time. He was pretty tired for a couple of days. Shakeela is a nurse but is having a baby so she was around home most of the time. Edward and Shakeela gave us their bed, they have only been married since April.

All the other kids live at home as well. Lubna is a nurse, Faisel is studying as is Sobal (both guys) and Saba (girl) is as well. Then there are the two youngest girls, they have been adopted, Sunna and Saina. Everyone was so helpful and lovely and the meals were great.

As well as all these people staying in the house there are all the neighbours coming and going and people from the church and friends, it’s a bit like a railway station, great place. The church building is up the stairs on the second floor so that’s often being used and the computer centre is up there too, that’s used every day for classes. So this “house” is pretty multi-purpose.

While there with the Manzoor family we talked a lot about the structure of the work. There is so much that could be done and they have a very clear vision. They want to train more women to sew, more young people in computers and a sewing factory to employ around 40 people. So there is plenty to talk about.

We also had to talk through the delivery of funds and relief to the flooded areas. Edward was near to tears telling us of the situation in these areas. We got photos and reports written up that will be put online sometime soon.

We opened a new sewing programme in a little Christian community on the edge of Lahore. About 300 Christian families live in this place. Most of them are sweepers and there is no school in the area. It’s a sad place with little life or vibrancy. People have little to be happy about and many lose their faith and hope in places like this.

We were also involved in the graduation of the EGM Computer centre. 37 students graduated from the 3 month foundation course where they learn MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint and a programme in which you type in English and it converts to Urdu. Only 28 of the students were present as the others had gone out to visit family members affected by the floods. It was great to see all these young people keen to learn. About 7 or 8 others were there who will be starting the next course soon.

We also went visiting some of the homes. These folks are pretty poor with sad stories of poverty, loss, discrimination and death. Some were families of the trainees, others were church members who insisted we came because we went to the neighbours place. In one little room we found a lovely little family with a 13 month old toddler named Ruth and a little 2 month old baby. There was obviously something wrong with Ruth and they couldn’t afford to go and see anyone about her. She was not developing normally, that’s for sure and poor, beautiful little mum was in tears as we talked and prayed for her. Mmmmm.

We flew from Lahore to Delhi, only 45 minutes. Delhi at night travelling by taxi to a hotel I booked on the net that was “near” the airport! An hour and a half near, never believe the adverts on the internet! It was OK but way overpriced. We saw half of Delhi though which was fun! Early next morning we got a taxi across to Pahar Ganj, a suburb near to our partners at DBI. We found a nice one and checked in, by this time it was too late to get to church. So we cruised over there and at midday met up with Lane Davis who had arrived from Nairobi at 3:15 that morning. He had been in Uganda and Kenya while we went to Mombassa and Pakistan. So we had a long catch up and peach iced tea!! Oh boy it was nice, and gooooood coffee. There are some really nice cafes at Khan market.

So Sunday was catch up day and Monday we spent most of it at DBI talking with Isaac and Gloria. Lots to talk about as this partnership develops with emerging new opportunities. This is a very impressive ministry with a growing impact in many communities. That night we wandered around a few streets in Pahar Ganj and caught a tuk tuk to the centre of the city. We caught a meal at an Indian restaurant and the next morning!!! Crook. The Delhi belly caught up with Kevin and he felt terrible that whole day. Lane was down as well, we felt like we had run into a brick wall. The problem was we had a flight to Lucknow, fortunately only an hour away. We survived the trip and crashed when we got to DBI.

Wednesday we were fine again, strange bug that one. We spent the day talking to the students and listening to their stories. A really interesting bunch of young guys all training to go into villages in North India to transform their communities. Most are from the Dalit caste so are the untouchables, one is from an animist tribal group shunned even by the Dalits. Their stories are tragic at the human level, but full of hope at the same time, because of Jesus. Some from Hindu backgrounds, some from Christian, one from Buddhist the other an animist and Secunder, he has no idea. His parents died and at 4 he was on the street as a beggar. For 6 years he survived until a Christian couple took him home and brought him up. Now he is here to learn how to serve God, he can live anywhere, he has lived anywhere. Most of them poorly educated but can read and are passionate about the one they are following.

Today we leave here and head off to Bangalore. As I write this Heather McLennan our BHW office manager and chief will be in the air on the way to Bangalore to meet us. Hopefully we get there in time to meet her, otherwise Kevin will be in big trouble!! The only problem is, there is a big court case decision coming out today about the ownership of some land. The case has been going on for 60 years and there is the possibility of riots. So, we’re going off to the airport early so we don’t get caught up in it.

Travelling on the streets in India is amazing.... such organized chaos!!Horns blasting all the time, lanes are seldom used as so many different types of vehicles push and jostle to move forward. There are cyclists, motorbikes, rickshaws, buses, cars, bullocks and donkeys pulling carts, taxis, and pedestrians dashing between all the traffic. And there are cows wandering along the streets and sometimes sleeping on the roads oblivious to the traffic and noise around them! Then there are the beggars knocking at your windows when your vehicle is stopped wanting money.

We had several rides on the rickshaws and it gives you a close up view of traffic and city life! So driving back in NZ is kinda dull and boring! Some taxi drivers drive like lunatics and they expect everyone to get out of their way and they are constantly blasting on their horns. They are like boy racers, but of course can’t drive fast with so many vehicles on the streets.

It’s pretty hot here. Low to mid 30s, so it’s OK, a bit warm but better than the NZ alternative. We’ll send this out when we get to Bangalore hopefully.

Thanks for your prayers and messages on the blog and emails.

Love to all
Kevin and Helen

p.s. we got safely to Bangalore and heather Anderson got here safe as well. so the last leg of our journey begins. 11 more days here in India, 5 days in Nepal, 6 days in Thailand and it's back to NZ.

there are a couple of pix uploaded here too for you to check out


india, what a place!!

2010-10-12

Where the heck has the last week gone. We’re in Dimapur, North India and we’ve kind of lost track of time. It’s raining here, been raining solid for the last two days. We’re hoping the plane flies out tomorrow, if not we have a few issues and the possibility of a long train ride!

Anyway, at the farm in Nagaland and we’ve been talking about and eating pigs. The whole place has turned to mud and our plans are going down the gurgler, so it seems.

Since we last communicated we got to Bangalore OK and caught up with Heather. Heather McLennan is the BHW office manager and she flew in for the rest of the trip. We got into Bangalore airport about an hour before her and went off to SAIACS where were slept for 4 nights.

The first day there we spent at another partner’s place, T Raja and the Home of Hope. He is a most amazing guy with a commitment to the poor it would be difficult to match. Basically, he has 300 street people living in his house! The police deliver people to the door in all sorts of states of desperation. They are sick, mentally challenged and as poor as it’s possible to be. He just loves them and lives amongst them with his family. Fortunately his house is growing and the men have recently shifted to another location and the children have been moved out as well to a rental. The good news is that we have been able to find some resources to assist with the development of the children’s ministry to provide them with a se cure family home.

We spent more time with them the next morning as well. it was interesting to spend time just hanging out at the place and seeing how things operate. It was a Saturday morning and we were very surprised. A number of groups turned up to visit and help at the centre. A local nursing school that teaches in English sent their staff down to spend time with the kids, especially the 3 that are physically challenged. Two Korean ladies came and taught Bible stories to the kids. The husband of one of them comes every 2nd day and prays with the residents, especially those that are terminally ill. 3 people died the two days we were there, this is average for the ministry. They have around 300 residents, over the last 10 years more than 3,500 have gone through the home.

Of course some are rehabilitated, but most of them have died. We met some who were married last year and some of them have had children. Saturday evening T Raja flew off to Singapore to tell the Home of Hope story to a conference.

Saturday midday we visited other partners Vidya and Ruth Sagar. They have a number of things going including a business making balm, training of rural church leaders, a school and other things, too many for us to get a handle on. Ruth is the best cook in India, and we again can give personal assurances this is true. The meal was fantastic and Helen got some new recipes.

Sunday was a catch up day as we had a lot of reports to write. So we hung out at SAIACS and got ready for the trip to Nagaland the following morning.

Monday we spent travelling. Up at 3:15 am to the airport. A flight to Kolkata and then another to Jorhat and then a 4 hours drive to a village called Mopungchuket, high in the hills of Nagaland. This is stunning country. For 2 days the largest piece of flat ground we saw was a football field. Our friends Subong and Sunep travelled with us showing us the story of the Ao Naga people and their journey from being head hunters to becoming almost 100% Christian. We saw parts of the story in museums and heard the fascinating tales of missionaries who came here in 1872 at the risk of losing their heads. There are churches everywhere, some with 1000s of members. It truly is an amazing story.

But, the rest of the story is still being written. The Ao were given a responsibility to take the Good News East. They did that to the other Naga tribes and in the 70s there was a huge revival here amongst the other tribes. But now the East is across borders into the border area of China and Myanmar and our partners are starting to think of ways to achieve that strategically. I’m a bit worried about that part as the next trip here may require some trekking to get to the villages!! I’ll send Helen!!!!

We visited a Bible School the next day where many of the alumni are now working in these remote areas and there is the potential for significant partnership with them to train people for these other places. There are students there from Myanmar who travelled 3 days on a bus to get to Impur and then 4 – 5 days walk on the other side of the border to come from their homes. The second night in Nagaland we slept at Mokukchung, a large grouping of Naga villages.

Wednesday we drove the 6 hours from Mokukchung to Dimapur, spectacular scenery, dangerous, rough roads. By now it was raining and for the next 3 days we were constantly damp as the end of the monsoon refused to leave the area. During that time we walked around the farm that has been set up here, we talked and talked with our friends, we met s group of people who have received loans and were part of a self help group and we were involved in the Board meeting of Bright Hope Nagaland. It was so wet we couldn’t spend as much time on the farm we wanted to. But it was good to see the great progress.

They have started giving money away to other projects and have started self help groups. One lady in a self help group told how she was given a pig and now she has 9 of them. This makes wealthy and at weddings of relatives she is able to give the best gift, a pig and shames her wealthy relatives! Oh, we also ate well at the farm, plenty of pork and pork fat! Helen was in heaven.....

Amazing people, the hospitality is incredible the development is impressive. They have had their challenges. They lost 12 pigs with a type of swine flu so this has compromised the whole project, but they are on top of it now. so the future is looking good. The government people constantly come to look at it and marvel at the quality of the whole thing, they received and order for 100 piglets from the neighbouring State while we were there. So the potential is very good.

We’re always sad to leave Nagaland but we had to go. So on Saturday we flew out to Guwahati and on to Bagdogra / Siliguri. We”ll tell you that story next time.

Since starting this we have actually arrives in Nepal. So, the Siliguri and Nepal story will come in a few days, before we fly out to Thailand on Saturday. We really value your prayer. Kevin has been unwell for a week with dia...... and has pulled calf muscle. We have some very dangerous roads to traverse in the next 3 days and so, if you’re pray-er, we need you on the team.
Love to all
Kevin and Helen


developments in India and Nepal

2010-10-17

It’s a week since we arrived in Siliguri. Those of you who are tea drinkers will know about Darjeeling. Well it’s in that area and about 30 kms from the border with Nepal.

We spent 2 days with our partner Primala who is a lady with lots of energy and passion for the poor, needy and vulnerable. She has started a school and does everything from teaching, feeding, adopting and overseeing the building projects. There is also a hostel on site and her 20 girls live with her and the teachers. Most of the kids are orphans. There are about 30 kids in the school.

On Sunday they have a church programme in one of the classrooms, one of the teachers lead the singing and worship the morning we were there with them. We were rapt to watch the kids worship and praise in song and dance. They just love singing and it was delightful to hear their sweet voices and then have them share some of their favourite songs. Kevin talked to them and it was interpreted in a couple of languages. There were also some ladies and girls from the community there who aren’t Christians but like to come.

After that while some of our lunch was being cooked on an outside fire in a huge wok, we were entertained by the kids and teachers with some more dancing. They asked Heather and Helen to join them, and then they grabbed Kevin....it was a bit energetic for him and he pulled a calf muscle....ouch!! It was incredible to watch how much food some of the little kids could eat!! HUGE plates of rice with a bit of pork. Three times as much as Helen can eat and 5 times Kevin’s capacity!

Many of these kids are from the people Primala is working with and are from the Adavasi people. They are thought to be the indigenous people of India. Now, they are below the caste system, lower than the untouchables even; treated like animals literally and not thought of as human. Their kids are sold, traded and abused and are frequently seen scavenging amongst the rubbish. They are lovely people but so downtrodden they have no hope. These people are as low as you can go in India and Primala has found the most vulnerable to work with.

Then we interviewed some of the kids. One of the girls, Pinky was 11. As a 3 year old she was sold by her mother along with her other 5 siblings. She and two of them went to a circus; then her mum committed suicide. Over the next few years she was resold 2 more times, saw her brother eaten by a lion and a tiger in the circus and was frequently beaten in training. An aunt “rescued” her and then sold her again to someone. In all she was sold 5 times before Primala found her and took her into her home. Now she’s safe. As safe as an 11 year old Adavasi girl can be in a culture like that...

Next day we drove about and hour to the Nepal border and had no hassles at customs either side; the Nepal guys were very friendly and helpful. 40 minutes drive in another taxi and another flight, this time from Bhadrapur and we found ourselves touching down in Kathmandu.... We got on an earlier flight than planned so arrived an hour early. On domestic flights you don’t go to the terminal, the luggage was delivered outside to lots of grabbing hands and after showing luggage ID tags you then try to pull heavy bags off the table and fight your way through the crowds. We had hoped to see the Himalayas, perhaps Mt. Everest even, but it was not to be. There was lots of cloud and rain as we were only 12,000 feet in the air. We needed to be at least 16,000 according to those who claim to know.

It was the first time to Nepal for Heather and Lane, they were fascinated by the different buildings and then our taxi driver didn’t seem to know the difference between 1st and 4th gear. It was good to meet some church planters and hear their stories. Amazing stuff as we heard about them hearing the good news and becoming followers of Jesus. Then they told of the transformation that started in their villages as they try to live for him and engage the very poor people who live on the sides of these impossibly steep hills. We spent the Tuesday with Niranjan and Sonu and a group of guys they work with.

Another road trip Wednesday, from Kathmandu to Nawal Parasi and back again on Thursday. Should have taken 4 hours each way but it was 61/2 one way and 7 coming back. Accidents, road blocks and traffic jams all conspired to hold us up. In Nawal Parasi we checked out the things going on there. Some of the things we saw were pretty impressive considering the work has really only been going for less than 2 years here:

We visited the clinic that our partners have developed. They treat around 20 per day and it’s becoming a very helpful tool in the area

We met with the local leader of the farmers’ cooperative that started less than a year ago. There are 500 farmers in it now getting the benefits. They have bought a rice husker and polisher and a grain crusher. They are starting to save for a tractor to help them be more efficient. Some of them have received loans as well. All this is done largely with their own money.

We walked around the area and Lane, our resident photographer, took a lot of photos. This is turning into an outstanding development. We stayed at a local “resort” for $10 a night. But we did get to go for an elephant ride to check out the local rhinos, and we saw a few but no tigers. The elephant ride got us into the right frame of mind to get back into the van for another 7 hours of mental and bodily torture. The roads were appalling, the vehicle a piece of junk, the driver pretty average and the other drivers plainly demented! Still, we got back to our abode early evening, the Hungry Tree. $10 a night and worth every cent. It comes with livestock and smell and every sense is stimulated.... all night.

Why do we do this stuff? There has to be other ways to fill in the days. We often wonder about that, especially when we’re in the capital city of a large country and the whole place is shut down for some festival. Not for a day, for a week! And we just happened to be there for it!! Well the answer to the question is this, we do it because we want to bless our great friends who live here and who give their lives in very basic ways to the people they have been called to serve. We cannot speak highly enough of them. They are truly amazing and the small risks we take and hardships we face are nothing if it means they can be more effective.

The last morning we found ourselves sitting on the steps outside a closed internet cafe in the rain, tapping into their wireless internet connection. We got more than a few strange looks for the 15 minutes of connection with the world.

Anyway, we survived Nepal and came away deeply encouraged by what God is up to in that place with our friends. Now we’re in Bangkok and tomorrow we head off into the rural areas to see what’s happening there. We’ll be away one night and then back to check out the other partners in Bangkok. Thursday we head back to NZ but we’ll try to drop another note to you before we leave here. Kevin still has the runs and Helen is keeping well. It’s good to have one of us working at 100%!!

Thanks for your prayers and emails and messages We love hearing from you.

Lovely to chat,
We’ll be in touch
Love from
Kevin and Helen


home and crash

2010-10-27

hey there friends,

It's back to the lovely weather of Whangaparaoa and we've had a 6 day break to get our heads sorted out. The weather has been amazing, balmy evenings and bbqs, summer is here! It was lovely to come home to a long weekend and to have all the kids here for a couple of nights. It was Hugo's b/day the day we arrived so parties started immediately on arrival. Two is such a funny age, Hugo is so much fun, we spent much of the weekend laughing at him!

since leaving Nepal we had 5 nights in Thailand. we arrived late on Saturday evening and met Lane and Heather who came from Kathmandu through Delhi! it took them many hours, we came direct, 3 1/2 hours! We left in the pouring rain on a holiday with hardly any taxis around. Anyway, we met  our friends OK and off to the hotel near the airport. it was a nice hotel but early the next morning, Sunday, we drove right across Bangkok to the area we were staying. Lorraine, our kiwi freind came to take us to church and Lane went off to try and get his crashed computer sorted in the middle of Bangkok. fortunatley he was able to find the right place and hand it in for repair! We had a nice time at church in Muanthang and met our lovely freinds and partners there. There was a church lunch which we enjoyed and then a meeting with a lovely lady who has presented us with a new opportunity for the future; caring for young boys in remand who have no hope of rehabilitation.

Monday morning we were off for 2 days in rural Thailand. But not until Helen and Heather managed to spend some time in one of the huge shopping malls! Sad to say she yielded to the temptation of the shoe department. I'm glad I was there to restrain her!!!! Ha, no chance. Heather was no help at all, in fact she had a decidedly serious influence on the whole team after her arrival. Ha!!

Anyway, early Monday morning the 4 of us crammed into a king cab ute and off we went on an 11 hour trip to the north of Bangkok. It's beautiful country and it seems so productive. On the way to the rural village, which is called the Switzerland of Thailand,  up behind Petchabun, we visited a mushroom farm pilot project we have funded. it was great to see it and how successful it has been for the people running it. It seems like a really good plan for future small-scale home based industry. We also called into a hostel being run by the people we have been partnering with. over 100 Hmong children live there during school semesters so they can attend a decent school. Anyway, we left Bangkok at 8 a.m. and arrived in the village at around 6:15, wet most of the way. After rest and a lovely meal, we were down to the church to meet the local Christians and hear their vision for their people. pretty impressive one would have to say for a group of people who are struggling with their identity in Thailand. Kevin spoke to encourage them and they seemed to enjoy that.

slept on the floor and it rained all night, really heavy rain. They grow cabbages for Asia in this area, it's high up in the hills and the erosion is pretty disturbing. early next morning we named a baby and drove to Lom Sak to catch our bus back to Bangkok. it was pretty uneventful despite kevin still with the Delhi belly from last week! Luxury coach for 6 1/2 hours, got back to Bangkok at 6:30 and to the hotel about 7:15. We found a cheap little restaurant close by and had a nice Thai meal.

Wednesday Heather left us. We put her on a taxi to the airport and we went to visit our Bangkok partners. First it was the Good News Team. It was great to see them again and hear about the changes God is making in the lives of so many children and families. Then it was downtown to Patpong, the seedy, foreign heart of Bangkok. In that place they are rescuing girls from prostitution and retraining and trying to restore them to some sort of stability after the trauma of the lives they have been trapped into. It was nice to see them at work making jewelery and to visit the place some of them now live. Prai showed us around, she is a remarkable young woman with a lot of courage. We set up for Lane to revisit and spend some time there after we had left on Thursday.

And so it was back to the hotel and two more nights to chill and catch up with stuff before leaving the next day. Sadly, late the next morning Kevin's computer crashed and most of the photos from the whole trip are at risk! Lane left us around midday Thursday and shifted closer to the centre of the city and we stayed till 2:30 and headed out ot the airport. The rest was pretty uneventful. We waited for a long time but caught the plane, slept most of the way home and there were Jared, Hugo and Ruthie to meet us, awesome! lovely to see them and be home again.

Since coming home a lot of people have asked about the highlights of the trip. Too many to list just yet but we will do that. In general it was pretty good, no major dramas, just a lot to think about and process now, especially the new opportunities and expansion of existing partnerships. hopefully we'll get to tell you about them sometime soon.

Friends, we'll do one more update in a week  with a few photos if we still have them. should know later today. Christmas stuff is already in the shops, it's summer already and there is such a lot to think about before then end of the year. We appreciate your journeying with us and friendship as we traveled. Thanks for all your prayers. Hope you enjoyed the ride?

Love,

Helen and Kevin


Last note for the year

2010-11-23

Hi there friends,

Hard to believe we've been home more than 4 weeks. It's nice to be in one place for a while and the same bed! Great to spend time with family and friends. 

Kev's had a frustrating time with his computer.The hard drive was replaced which took a week, and he has lost all his photos from the trip... Thank goodness Lane travelled with us and we can get some of his shots. Lane flew into Auckland a few days after us and stayed two nights. Then we all flew to Christchurch for a week. Its was a busy time debriefing with Rob, going over all the partnerships,looking at new opportunities, and making plans for next year. Also got a board meeting and a meal with the BHW team. 

We often say that our greatest asset in Bright Hope World is our partners. Along with them go the great people we have in our team here in New Zealand.  They  are awesome.  We appreciate spending time with the BHW team, its so encouraging knowing they are so supportive. 

What a shame it was to see so many damaged and demolished buildings and houses in Christchurch and to hear the stories from our friends. It's such a shame that so many people have been so badly affected by the earthquake. We even felt some after-shocks the first night we arrived. People here are very thankful no-one died and few suffered serious injury. Its been hard for some who haven't been able to live in their homes and are waiting for approval to have repairs done to their homes.

Last blog we said we would share some highlights of the trip. So, here goes:

1. Meeting our friends in Angoche, Mozambique. It's amazing to see what is happening there and to see the community changing. Now we are working out how we can respond to their requests for help to become self sustaining with a farm and gardens. 

2. Zimbabwe - we met an amazing family who have a vision to help their community which consists of many widows that are HIV+ and orphans. We heard stories there of abuse that made us really angry. The challenge now is to try and turn that anger into positive action that sees the wrongs righted, the poor helped and long term sustainable income created for those very vulnerable people.

3. Kenya - spending time with a bunch of people with a vision to transform deserts into productive orchards, gardens and forests and uneducated kids into productive citizens.

4. Uganda - There are so many great stories in Uganda. We visited a church of Sudanese refugees and it was inspiring to hear the stories of change that the loans were making in their lives. We are constantly amazed at how a small amount of money can make a huge difference. We were also impressed by Simon's vision in Lira to generate income to support vulnerable kids. a bunch of women there got loans as well, they are breaking rocks to earn a living, we're thinking about ways to lift their heavy load.

5. Pakistan - such devastation. Still 7million people without housinmg and winter is coming. A very harsh winter with snow and rain and sleet. Millions of kids sleeping in makeshift houses and with little foodnd no warmth a. Many will die and be sick for months. Our partners will only be able to help a few. Dilemma..." there will always be poor people" Jesus said, mmmmmm, true. Many poor people there will always be. Our partners are moved with mercy and compassion to do something.

6. In India there were many highlights. One was teh time we spent in Siliguri with Primala and her family of very vulnerable girls. To see pagan kids who have been rescued from slavery and fear leading the church worship was amazing. Their stories were heart breaking but the change was impressive. We were reminded again that money is not what saves these people, it requires committed people like Primala who forsake their own personal comfort and give themselves for others.

7. Nepal and Thailand were great, the main impact was what a few bucks can do when loaned to people who want to change and develop. A farmers co-operative with 500 families in Nepal and loans for goats. in Thailand it was loans to start mushroom production units that impressed us. And all it takes is a person with a vision, a faith that transforms a pagan into a Christ follower and a few dollars.

So, now it's reports, meetings and setting up for next year. Along with that it's sorting out our communication methods, meeting with key people in NZ, trying to generate more income to invest in our friends. Hopefully it will also be a lot of barbecues with friends, fishing over the summer and some time out.

Next year we'll probably travel a little less!!!! maybe. Our team is growing so that's a great thing. But the opportunities are also increasing which means we require more resources. We'll be working at that more in teh next 12 months in New Zealand, Australia and the USA.

But, we'll stay in touch. This will be our last note for a while. As our plans for next year come together we'll let you know. In the meantime, have a great Christmas.

Love from Helen and Kevin


about to hit the air

2011-04-26

hi there friends,

mmmmm. April and it's about time we headed off again into the wild blue yonder to visit our friends out there. So, this little note is to warn you about the imminent departure and alert you that we will be starting to communicate again.

We've just heard that some of our friends in Zambia have been badly injured in a car smash and that one of them has been killed. we are very concerned about those in hospital and their treatment. It reminds us how dangerous the roads are in the countries we spend a lot of time in. So, please continue to pray for us, and them?

We have updated the itinerary for you to check out and follow as well.

So, buckle up and put on your seatbelts.

love

Kevin and Helen


inspired

2011-05-25

hey there friends,

hope you're doing OK and you're inspired by something today.

Since last blog we've surived a trip to Brisbane where we had a great time with family, Bright Hope World team and then some friends at Recliffe Church in Redcliffe. It was great to get to see Uncle Inky and Aunt Lorna Ingram in Gold Coast. He's my mum's older brother and still up to mischief at 85!! Good to catch up with cousins we've not seen for years. i'm inpsored by older people who are still passionate about life and who grab every day with enthusiasm.

We also spent a few night with Helen's brother Gordon and Christine. it was lovely to catch up and see what they're up to. We spent a nice day in the hinterland of the Gold Coast. Lovely to spend unhurried time with people close to you.

Anyway, after a busy weekend speaking at church we came back to NZ to finalise preparations for the next jaunt "out there" with our partners. everything has come together pretty well and I (Kevin) am writing this from Bangkok. I'm travelling with 4 guys who are meeting partners and looking at opportunities for partnership from their church. The first day was great and we heard story after story of what God is doing amongst the people they work with. truly amazing stuff as people meet Jesus and their lives are transformed.

We heard stories of financial change, of sick people being healed, of relationships restored and kids rescued from prostitution and drugs. so inspiring out here on the front line in the battle for peoples' lives, minds and bodies.

last night we were in Patpong, the heart of the "sex industry." so sad to see oung women and men having to sell themselves. So sad to see so many men so controlled by the sex urge that they have to resort to this. in teh midst of it, there are Alex and Sarah from a little rural town in New Zealand, living their everyday lives in this hell hole. Making a difference, nurturing damaged people, encouraging local people in their work, living in community with rescued girls. Pretty inspiring really.

So today we check out another partner and fly up to Chiang Mai in the North of the country. It's the wet season so it's going to be a rough two nights in the bush. We're hoping that the roads won't suck us into holes we can't get out of. pretty sure we'll be pushing the vehicle some some of the journey!

Helen is doing OK in New Zealand. It's nice that Sara, our daughter is staying with her for a few days. It's only 3 weeks till we meet again in Ethiopia.

So, what's inspiring you today?

Love to all

Kevin and Helen


great partners in Thailand

2011-05-29

Oh boy, what a few days.


It’s been interesting travelling with 4 other guys and seeing our partners and the world we’ve been exposed to through their eyes. It’s helped me understand what great people we have as friends and partners.


First it was Bangkok for two full on days. We arrived late Thursday night and slept near the airport. Next morning it was off across town to meet our friend Prasert who told us of the work she’s involved in with kids, pretty interesting to hear of poor kids whose lives have been transformed and whose families are now experiencing a degree of relationship that was impossible before they discovered relationship with Jesus. Then we heard from Chuenjit and her story. She works with boys who are sent to a remand home, most from lives of crime and drugs and living on the streets. She befriends them at the remand home and then as they come out she offers them a home and tries to get them back into education or to find jobs. She has them at her house a lot and continues to visit the remand home. She is seeing some remarkable changes in the boy’s lives. After that we had lunch with a team of church planters who told us stories that are almost unbelievable. Young people with great passion introducing people to Jesus, whole families being baptised..... there is something happening here that is very exciting.


Then we booked into a hotel and took a taxi and the sky train to the centre of the city, Patpong, to visit Rahab Ministries. It was lovely to spend some time with Alex and Sarah and hear the things they and Prai and the team have to deal with as they seek to befriend and rescue bargirls. It’s such a complex issue. This part of the city is crawling with Western “sex travellers” about 5,000 a day come to Thailand for “sex tourism.” So the team hangs out in the bars to befriend the girls and offer them hope. Some take up the offer and come out of it and the team then takes them on the journey to recovery, wholeness and self sufficiency. On the way, many find relationship with Jesus. But they face many issues not the least the reluctance of Christians to accept them into their church! Tough work, amazing people.Then it was “home” to the hotel after wandering in the rain through the night markets and strip joints of Patpong Soi 1. Great people.

The next day we were off early to The Good News team where we heard amazing stories about children coming to faith through the correspondence courses. Most of the team members were away running programmes in Chiang Rai. But Nok showed us around. She is one amazing lady and you should hear her pray. Let her loose praying and Satan trembles. Faith like it’s hard to believe. We said goodbye around 2:00 and headed back to the airport where we said goodbye to a team member. His son was sick in hospital in New Zealand and he felt he wanted to be there. Seeing we were heading into the bush for 2 days he was not that comfortable being out of touch for so long. Fair enough, not easy decisions those ones..... at least the boy is improving now.


We got to Chiang Mai around 6:30 p.m. and drove for 3 hours on good roads to the resort at Om Koi with our partner Mike Mann. A slight misnomer, “resort,” but it actually was a lovely place. We didn’t see much of it as it was off again at 7:00 a.m. after breakfast in a little restaurant on the roadside, soup for breakfast! I am loving the food here again, amazing. For the next two days we bounced around some of the most unbelievable roads. Is cannot even begin to describe them.

We got back to Chiang Mai Saturday evening around 8:00 p.m. with many amazing experiences including:
• Spending most of the 750 kilometers in the back of the Toyota Hiace. I only have one split on my head which in itself is a miracle
• We had the most amazing meals at roadside restaurants. I kid you not, Thai cooking in NZ is good, here it is out of this world. $5-6 for a huge meal you’d pay 4 times the amount for at home
• Sleeping in a Karen village with the family of the pastor, a lovely old man
• Seeing heaps of coffee growing in very interesting locations
• The village of Mokh o Jo (Mo Ho Jo) and their new school. Beautiful, beautiful kids at school, it would not have happened if Christian people had not got off their butts and got involved.
• Hearing stories of many communities transformed with the Good News about Jesus and water, sewage, electricity, roads, loans, education and health. Very cool.
• Schools and clinics built by coffee and the good will of some large companies
• Talking with the travellers about grass roots stuff related to missions. It’s very interesting hearing people grapple with the issues of prostitution, poverty, church planting, education, health, development all in the same conversation.
• Seeing where La Mai coffee is grown and talking to the growers. By the way, 18 tonnes of La Mai coffee is about to be shipped to the USA. I’m hoping to see it on Monday.


Anyway, after a good sleep Saturday night we’ve had a day off. Visited a fantastic elephant place with at least 70 elephants. It was a funny show and then to see some tigers. Hugo our grandson would have loved it. It’s been good to have a day off to catch up. We’re back into it tomorrow thought it won’t be as strenuous. I’m missing Helen and the family, but it’s great to be here as well. It’s only 3 weeks till Helen catches up with me in Ethiopia.

Before then there are a lot of things to do:
• Prepare and send off a seminar outline tomorrow
• Visit Myanmar for 4 days from Tuesday
• Write up a few reports
• Travel to London to see the Queen, not. To visit a large potential donor and partner
• Travel to Glasgow to speak at a church and a Bible School Graduation and some other meetings
• Travel to Strasbourg, France, for a conference and deliver the seminar
• Fly to Ethiopia.


No sweat.
See ya, and thanks for being on the journey with us.
Kevin and Helen


leaving Myanmar

2011-06-05

Hey there from Bangkok,
Overnighting here before heading off to the UK. Had an interesting time in Myanmar, such a different place from anywhere else we go. It’s not like I haven’t been there before, but you can’t help but notice some stuff. Here are a few thoughts from my time there, observations and experiences:


• One of the most obvious observations is the huge number of Buddhist monks on the streets. It seems like Buddhism produces beggars. They all flock around the streets begging for food. Well not all Buddhists are poor of course; some are obscenely wealthy, including the leaders.

• I noticed a man working on the streets. I walked past him a number of times over the 4 days. His job, picking the grass out of the cracks in the tar seal along edges of the roads. He moved about 40 metres over the 4 days. His tools, a bucket, nothing more, nothing less. Every weed and piece of grass was picked by hand. On another occasion I saw a group of people fixing cracks in the tar seal; their tools? A bucket full of sand mixed with tar. They shovelled it into the cracks and patted it down with their hands!

• Taxis – amazing machines they are, every one dangerous and decrepit. No seat belts and most of them 1970s and 1980s Toyota Corollas. Mind you, it would cost you $US30,000 to buy one. But that’s not all. The government gas stations will only sell then 9 litres of fuel per day! If they want any more, they have to buy it on the black market for double the price. One wonders where the black marketers get it from!

• Of course, one also wonders how much it costs to buy one of huge black Lexus’ you see roaring past and you wonder where that came from.

• Mmmmm. A number of Christians told us you have to be corrupt to own a car or a house. And some pastors own 2 cars and others a number of properties! Lots of questions it raises. Along with this the number of Westerners coming here their own personal projects! I talked to a couple of people in the hotel, pretty alarming frankly.

• Traffic – it’s fortunate there are few new cars in the country. It’s bad enough without them. At one set of traffic lights a policemen decided he could do a better job that the lights. He managed to turn the whole intersection into a farce. Half the drivers followed his directions and the other half the lights, they were not in sync! Talk about laugh..... the highlight of the trip so far!

• Arm waving at cars – I think deeply embedded in each male Burmese is a policeman. Every time a car tries to do something like back or turn into the traffic a number of people quickly emerge to create chaos. At one place as I walked past a policeman and 4 others were trying to get a car into the flow of traffic, each one giving different directions and arm signals.

• The guys we met made an interesting observation. Of you are a Christian, you are poor. If you become a Christian you are poor. That’s reality here, and in most of the places we find ourselves visiting. Poverty, now is the time for the Western church to partner with our brothers and sisters to help them se their dreams for their families, their churches and their communities. It’s a great privilege to partner with people like the 3 leaders from Mt. Albert Baptist who came with me to Thailand. They are serious about this issue and are working hard to come up with ways they can be strategic in partnership.

• And of course, a huge privilege to partner with people like Joshua Bawi Vum, Khup Hlei Thang, Samuel and Dawiet Thang who have a strong vision and clear strategies to bless people. We heard of many people becoming followers of Jesus, people becoming healthy and whole, economic independence and development through chickens, gardens, pigs and small tractors. Amazing what is going on.

So, in a few hours I’ll be off to London. Another 12 hours in the air and a couple more airports and a very different world. I meet Rob Purdue in London and we’ve got a couple of important meetings. Then on to Glasgow and meetings and I have to speak at a graduation ceremony for a number of missions students. So I’ll have to try and iron a shirt, mmm, find a shirt to wear that isn’t work out, ripped or dirty and a tie! Ha, no chance.
Helen is well and spending the weekend with two of her sisters in Eltham, NZ. I’m pretty sure there are some pretty crazy conversations going on. Only 14 days till we meet in Ethiopia!! Roll on the next two weeks.
Blessings and thanks for your interest
Love
Kevin

p.s. check out the new photos as well? go to our photos and click on the photo for a little description


the UK

2011-06-11

London, it’s certainly a bit different from Bangkok – the temperature being the most noticeable difference of course!


While I Bangkok overnight I caught up on reports and two events made me realise how amazing our partners are as I worked on the notes I’d written .


I interviewed one of our partners who has quite a large ministry going around Myanmar, Church planting, a Bible School, raising 3,000 broiler chickens at a time and 80 kids in a hostel and a lot of other stuff. It was the start of the school year and they didn’t have enough money to send get them started. So he pawned his wedding ring to make it possible for teh kids to get to school on the 1st day. He hopes he’ll get the money from somewhere to buy the ring back in the next two months. I wondered if I was that committed to the ministry?


The next day I interviewed a young man, Joseph who has been working in a Buddhist community for the last 7 years. His denomination wanted him to shift but he felt he had invested too much time with these people and begged to stay. They agreed, but said they could no longer support him. So, he and his wife determined to help the locals and themselves to become self sufficient. And so, to get together a fund with which to start their self sustainability programmes they sold all their wedding gifts and the gold they have been given by their families at their wedding. Now, there are more than 60 adults in the church and many small businesses established. The next one will be a building supplies store in a neighbouring village. Mmmmmm...... incredible commitment.

I had to laugh, in fact I’m still laughing about this. In the airport at Bangkok waiting to leave. Got some chips and a drink at Burger King and a Korean family came in. The father was immaculate, dressed entirely in white, shoes, trousers, shirt and jacket, white cap perfectly aligned and a white leather back pack. He kept glancing at himself in the mirror on the wall and he was obviously pleased with what came back at him. He sat down the others went an ordered. You know how the way things come in 3s, this guy was about to get 4, in 10 minutes! It was almost like he set himself up for something to happen.
First one of the little guys passed him a pile of chips and they dropped onto the table, covered in tomato sauce. He got a major splat right across his front from the drop. A couple of the family jumped up to help and in the process dropped a little burger on his arm, splat number two. By this time our man was rather vocal and waving his arms around, just as a guy walked past with a tray in one hand and on the corner of the tray was a large Coke. You guessed it, his hand clipped it and it flew with great accuracy on to the table in front of him, the top came off and washed away all the tomato sauce from his shirt and jacket. He sat in shock as the Coke went all over him and seriously dented his image. He was soaked. And unfortunately, his i-phone which had been lying on the table in front of him was now awash with Coke, and ice!


What a mess. The whole restaurant was in an uproar. The things you see!!!

On the trip to London I sat by a couple of Welsh brothers, Huw and Rob, who had been in Pattaya for 10 days and were more than a little the worse for wear! They talked rugby until told to shut up cause everyone else in the plane wanted to sleep, fortunately I got about 7 hours sleep and woke an hour before landing. then on the tube to the hotel and met Rob after lunch in our postage stamp sized bedroom. The next day we had a couple of meetings, one with a large foundation to talk to them about what we do and then to Victoria bus station to meet a partner who had come to meet us. Back to the hotel, cheap meal for dinner from Sainsburys.


Wednesday morning back onto the tube ant to airport and off to Glasgow. Spoke that night in a church a 50 people turned up. They took an offering, largest in our lives for one meeting. Thankyou Lord, the people here are so generous. Then came Thursday, hopefully this is the busiest day of the trip! Lectured to students at GLO UK for two hours and met with two other leaders for meetings about BHW and missions. Then to a meeting with our UK partner organisation, Shared Hope, and had to go through all the partnerships they are funding. It took about 4 hours of talking so by 11:00 pm it was crash into bed.


Yesterday we had a quieter day. Howard Peebles took us off to Culzean (pronounced Cullane)castle, about an hour away. It was great to wander around in the beautiful grounds and through the building beside the sea. It was a beautiful but cool day and very relaxing. Then at night I spoke at the graduation at GLO UK in Motherwell, students from Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Italy, Faroe Islands, Zambia, D R Congo and India. Great to see keen people taking the time to get to know God.


So it’s early morning here, still quiet and we’re off to France today. Still missing my girl and the family, only 8 days till we met again in Ethiopia. By that time I’ll be over being in a room with Rob!


There’s so much going on with our partners and it’s a struggle to keep up with it all, but it’s fantastic. Still building houses for $US900 for flood victims in Pakistan, Worku has just got back to Ethiopia and we’ll meet him soon (much to see there,) Jerry Filed and John Vlaming are out visiting partners in Zambia and Zimbabwe and about 8 or our partners coming from all over the world to the conference in France, so it will be nice to get together with them there next week. There are about 500 people coming from almost 100 countries. Got a seminar to run on Tuesday but apart from that it’s just networking with good people.


So friends, next time it will be about France, before we head back into Africa and meet in Addis Ababa on the 19th.
Thanks for your prayers, such a blessing and so sustaining
Kevin and Helen


beautiful place, nice people

2011-06-16

Strasbourg is a very beautiful city, I have to say it's got a lovely ambience. it was nice last night to wander around teh streets with Rob Purdue in the warm evening and soak some of it up. the catherdral is pretty impressive as well. it's a drizzly afternoon and i've sneaked out of the conference. got a sore head and a sore throat, feeling less than good. But it's been good to have some time to think and process what we've seen and heard.

It's been quite a week since being in touch. Last Saturday Rob and I flew out of Glasgow and into Paris. it was nice to feel warm again. however, we enjoyed our time up there in Scotland. after taking forever to get the hire car sorted and then the stupid GPS we headed north from hte great city. What a beautiful country France is. It is easy to fall in love with. rolling hills, no fences or powerlines to clutter the eye space. Very easy on the eyes and the spirit. Once we had worked out the GPS it all weorked pretty well. the next couple of days was a break and a personal pilgimmage i had wanted to make for years. Two great uncles were killed in this are during WWI and i had never been the area to visit theri graves. For me it was a moving time as we visited the Australian war memorial just outside Fouilly. 1,000 of gravestones in neat rows. hard to imagine the horrors of this place almost 100 years ago and then again just a few years later. All the graves contained boys, younger than my kids and a number "known only to God."

We stayed that Saturday night in the little town of Corbie, Rob on the floor! He wouldn't share the bed with me. Sunday morning we headed back towards Amiens to the little town or Daours and there in the cemetrary found teh grave of James Copppin, 24. he served with the Australina 1st battalion and died in the area along with many of his mates. Kind of surreal to be there and see a stone, many stones that represented so much wasted potetntial. mmmmm.

then into Amiens, it has teh most amazing catherdral. we spent an hour or so wandering around and there had an interesting meal, raw beef and a raw egg!. Not sure I would have ordered it had i known what it would be!  l often try different things on the menu, that was different. then off across country for 90 minutes to the Crossroads cemeteray, near to St. Quentin and the famous town of Le Quesnoy. Found the grave of Fritz Honore, a bit of a childhood hero of mine. About 22, a bit of a rebel, but even rebels die young. a beautiful, quiet place. no place is a good place to die or be buried really. Life is so precious and even young life so fragile. Still thinking about a lot of stuff really as a result of these two visits. It's wierd really, these two guys we're brothers in law but possible didn't know each other. They died within dayhs of each other and with 90 minutes of each other as well. another coincidence, Fritz's family, and therefore mine, were chased from France during the Reformation and went to Germany, then on to Denmark and then to New Zealand. they were chased from the Mons area which is just an hour away from where he is buried.

Anyway, enought of that stuff. after spending 30 minutes at teh grave and meeting the custodian who shook my hand profusly, we went into Le Quesnoy and wandered around the area that the NZ Army freed from the Germans. The whole town has adopted New Zealand adn we went to the NZ memorial and drove around the streets named after parts of home. it was amrket days so roads were in chaos. we got out of there in good time and set the GPS for Strasbourg. The idea was to drive for a couple of hours and then find somewhere to stay. Being trusting types, we followed the instructions and about 15 minutes later found ourselves crossing into Belgium. we asked the GPS to take us the direct way with no tolls. ha, over the next 12 hours drove across Belgium, stayed teh night in a motel near to teh Luxemburg border, crossed into Luxemburg and back into France!! i'm sure it was teh quickest way, but I bet it wasn't the shortest!! Anyway, we got to Strasbourg just after lunch on Monday, dropped off teh car at the airport and signed into the conference we're attending.

Met some interesting people here. They are from all over the world. 90 something countries and lots of stories. some you hear in subsequent blogs. Thinking seriously about involvment in a couple of them, very interesting, one in a place we can't talk about. It's int eh news virtually every day and the conditions for Christ followers is appalling.

anyway friends, i'm getting real hungry and i'm off to get some chow. 3 more sleeps and Helen and i will meet up in Addis Ababa. Awesome. really missing her. Sleeping in the same room with a couple of snorers and being on the top bunk ain't an ideal arrangment so i'm looking forward to much more comfortable nights ahead.

you guys are great. please pray for Helen as she travels from Auckland to Addis Ababa, as i travel from France to Ethiopia and for the next coueple of weeks as we host a team of church leaders around Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

catch you

Kevin and Helen


back together in Ethiopia

2011-06-22

The conference in Strasbourg finished well. It was inspiring to meet such great people. One guy we’re going to follow is a lovely old guy who is a Christian in Jordan. He has such a desire to see his country at peace and with openness of religion. He was often in tears as he told us stories of young people following Christ who are heavily persecuted and of the thousands who have had to leave the country for fear of their lives. He told of the thousands who have had to flee Syria and Iraq for the same reasons. All they want is freedom to worship their God. It looks like there may be trips to the Middle East in the next months as we develop opportunities there.


There were stories from South Sudan as it becomes a new country and that there is such a need for vibrant, authentic Christian faith in that place. Alongside it, stories of horrific abuse and systematic rape and torture.


There were stories of hope from Burundi as we talked to a fantastic couple who have decided to stay in their poverty stricken neighbourhood when they could leave and work internationally for a multi-national organisation. Why do people choose these pathways, why do you give up so much for seemingly so little return? It became obvious from many sources throughout the conference as we talked to our partners that there are levels of commitment to following Christ that we in the West are rarely confronted with. It’s all become too easy for most of us.


I was reminded of that today again as we talked through the things we are observing in Ethiopia. Our partner here made a startling comment. He said, “the church here has been able to resist the pressure of persecution and hardship but is struggling to deal with the temptation of money.” Materialism is such an insidious temptation. We don’t even see it as a negative in most cases in the West. But here in Ethiopia, it is ripping the heart out of the integrity of many, even those in leadership. There have been so many lessons to learn for us as we’ve met so many fine people.


Enough sermons!! OK. The conference ended on Friday and that evening we went with a bunch of NZers to dinner with a kiwi missionary living in Strasbourg. It was lovely to catch up with Irene and meet some of her friends. The Lebanese food was fantastic too. Then on Saturday Rob Purdue and I left Strasbourg and flew to Paris and then on to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. We arrived after an uncomfortable overnight flight from Paris at 6:00 am. Not the best time to arrive in any city really. But, 5 hours later I was a happy camper as Helen flew in and we were together again. Worku, our Ethiopian friend had organised things well. We were not expecting to have internet for a few days but we found ourselves in a hotel with wireless internet!! Miracles still happen. Up until this year it’s been a really hard place to travel and stay in touch.


We laxed out a bit for the rest of Sunday and then Monday we went off to the commodity trading floor in Addis to see how sesame seed is bought and sold. We’ve been doing that this past season to generate income. It was good to get a better handle on it all. Then it was out to the airport to meet the team from Chase Oaks Church, Dallas, Texas, USA. They were to arrive at 9:00 pm but got in at around 10:30. We were still waiting an hour later before we saw them..... wandering around looking for something. Luggage. Nothing, not one bag from 5 people; we finally left the airport at 1:00 am. The context, we had to be up at 5:00 am for a flight to the north of Ethiopia the next morning. So, here we are, 11:00 pm two days later and they still haven’t got their luggage. We leave Ethiopia Friday, hopefully with their luggage!!


In the meantime here in Gonder in the North of Ethiopia we’ve been to visit the widows feeding programme, visited the land on which the new school will be built and then met 10 blind children that have been sponsored to go to a little school set up by the blind association. It was lovely to meet 10 young people from off the streets who within one year have learned to read Braille in Amharic and English and get into 3rd grade. Awesome stories.


Then today we met the 90 kids in the kindergarten, we spent 3 hours listening to stories of change agents in the rural parts of Northern Ethiopia and met two sisters who have been given a small loan to start a business and we drank their coffee. It’s very inspiring and humbling to be given such hospitality by such poor people. Well you really do have to re-define poor when you meet people with so little money but such vast reserves of kindness and gentleness and generosity.


So, tomorrow it’s back to Addis to find luggage and then Friday to Kenya and a whole bunch of new experiences. I’ve put some pictures this time.


I forgot to tell you about the amazing Cathedral in Strasbourg. It’s smaller than the one in Amiens but very impressive still. It’s a lot taller and in better repair. I’ve stuck a couple of pix, but it’s so hard to understand the scale of the place.


Anyway, I’ll head off to bed and leave you to have a nice day.
Lovely to be back together......
Love
Helen and Kevin


Nairobi in the rain

2011-06-26

It’s Sunday in Nairobi and half the city will be off to church. It’s the last day for a while that we’ll have decent internet so we’ll drop you a line and throw in a few pictures.


We left Gonder in the north of Ethiopia on Thursday morning and said goodbye to Worku, our friend there. It was lovely to spend time with him again. He’s such a level headed guy with patience like you wouldn’t believe. We hope to be able to start building a school there in the near future. We go back to Ethiopia in a few weeks and hope to be able to report a start to it.


We travelled back to Addis Ababa and spent the afternoon catching up on stuff. Then early Friday headed off to Nairobi. We were met on arrival by Jude Goatley who has been helping us set up this part of the trip. it was lovely to see here again and spend the afternoon with her.


After going to the guest house we’re staying at we headed off to the Mathare Valley. We’ve talked about this place a number of times in the past. It still smells, it’s still a terrible place but there are some signs of minor improvement. But as Gilbert says," Mathare is still Mathare." He means it is still a hotbed of poverty, that there are still enormous needs, that people are dying of preventable diseases every day, that young people are being abused and raped, that there are way too many child headed households. The team with us were very quiet as we travelled back to the guest house through rush hour traffic in Nairobi.


Yehaaaa, a huge thunder clap and it’s now pouring with rain. The locals are very happy when it rains here. They live on the verge of disaster much of the time and the rains not as consistent as they once were.


Next day we headed off to Tala, 90 minutes away and spent the day with Robert and Rose. Good friends they are and it was great to be able to introduce them to our friends from the USA. We visited the schools they are developing and spent a lot of time trying better understand the issues of the good news and poverty. It was a treat to eat that night at Java House cafe. Nice food and coffee. It’s a tough city Nairobi. A mega-city with all the positives and negatives of a large city. One of the negatives is security and I find myself constantly looking over my shoulder, especially after dark!


Sunday has been busy. It’s now almost 5 pm and we’ve been out to a 2 ½ hour church service, have interviewed a partner from the DRC and interviewed 3 young men who are beneficiaries of the revolving fund operating in Nairobi. Great to hear what a blessing it has been to them. We have one more interview before dinner and then it’s packing to leave tomorrow morning for the west of Kenya and on to Uganda.


The pace at the moment is a little fast to be frank. We’re looking forward to travelling slower once we get to Uganda. We hardly get time to talk about anything or to have any mind space. Mind you, the team we’re with are great, it’s just that there are so many things to have to organise and keep on top of when there are 8 people to look out for.
It’s been a week since Helen got here and apart from flopping into bed at night we’ve hardly had time to talk. But that will change soon and in a few days she’ll be sick of just having me to talk to!!


So, we’ll head off into the evening rain and thunder and try and find the next person to interview, the next meal to find and the next bill to pay. Oh, got to arrange the taxi for 6:15 in the morning too. Mustn’t forget that one or I’ll be in real trouble.


Thanks for hanging in there with us. Thanks too for the messages on get jealous, the e-mails and contact via face-book. It’s great to stay in touch. We’ve been surprised and spoiled with good internet connections but it is going to change this week.

Bless you and thanks
Kevin and Helen


phew!

2011-07-02

Where the heck has the last week gone?! We’re sitting in a shopping mall in Kampala, Uganda wondering where it went. Last time we updated you we were in Nairobi we were off to bed having organised a taxi for the morning. It all worked out OK and by 7:00 am we were sitting in Nairobi airport waiting to head off to Kisumu on Lake Victoria. Plane was on time, no worries. Our friends were in Kisumu to meet us and we headed off to the hotel. We dumped our luggage as it was still early and some had breakfast. We then found out that the average hotel was $50 / night, much more than we were happy to pay for what we were going to get. So, after a few arm waves and repacking of the luggage, we headed off to the St, Anna Guest House, more than adequate, clean, quiet and half the price.


We then headed out to FAME children’s home to check out the state of play. We saw the cow we had bought, visited the greenhouse and the land purchased to make the Home self sustaining, toured the gardens and met the kids living in the hostel. They sang for us and quoted a few memory verses and then went back to school for the afternoon. We then talked through the dream for this place. It looks like a secondary school for about 160 kids from the Mathare Valley, a way to get the kids out of that terrible place. It was good to spend time with Daniel and Gilbert and talk with them about their dream. Can we help here? You’ll have to stay on the journey to find out! We hope so.


We slept well that night and early in the morning hired a van to carry us the 2 hours to the border with Uganda. We had told a few horror stories about the border crossing so our guys were a little up tight. It can be frightening for those not used to the chaos of African borders. But, there were no bus loads of people trying to get through at the same time and it all went off without a hitch. It was positively peaceful and our team wondered why we had made such a big deal of it!! The last of our teams that went through here had their money stolen from out of money belts!!


We met with James and Charles that afternoon and they shared stories from the partnership. Then Helen and I left the team at the Rand Hotel and we headed out to the village to stay with our friends. It was good to spend time with them though they were very busy as James’ uncle had died the week before and we were with them 2 days after the funeral. So we slept in the dark, quiet village house until the roosters woke us. I always sleep well in the village.


The team arrived and we spent the day interviewing beneficiaries of the loan scheme and hearing more stories of change and development; very inspiring it was. The real strength in this one is the connection between the loan scheme and the education scholarship fund. We met a bunch of very impressive young people who are so well educated and motivated it brought tears to our eyes.


Back to stay at the Rand Hotel on Wednesday evening and then on Thursday morning it was off to Jinja, a couple of hours away. We arrived and headed to the Source, a Christian initiated cafe and community centre and caught up with e-mails. Then to Thomas and Joyce’s for lunch and off to their very poor church to hear more stories. On the way we were arrested by the army for taking pictures, no signs saying not to do it and one of our team members had a proposal for marriage at the end of the interviews. We heard many stories of tragedy and loss. Desperate stuff. These people are so poor and discouraged they could not even smile for a photo. What is there to smile about! Thomas and Joyce have one of the most difficult ministry locations I have encountered. They are such lovely people and so hospitable. Thomas had a motorbike accident a few years ago and is in constant pain from a damaged neck. We left heaps of ibuprofen for him. That night we had our final team meal and debrief at a great Chinese restaurant in Jinja. Back to our filthy hotel and up early to get to the Source cafe again for breakfast, internet and fantastic coffee! Do we have to leave! We did and at 9:00 am after changing some more money – where does the money go – we were on our way to Kampala and the New Annex Hotel. Average place but central and clean, that makes for a change and the water is hot. We met with a new partner and developed a micro-loan programme, we said goodbye to Rob Purdue and sent him to the airport and had a final debrief with the USA team. They had been out shopping and came back with the need to repack. Then at 7 p.m. they headed off in their two taxis to the airport. Quiet, peaceful alone, it felt really strange.


They were a fantastic team, I’m not complaining. Lovely people with a great desire to learn and be effective in God’s great world and very generous. It's a privilege to partner with Chase Oaks Church, Dallas, Texas.

We’ve been able to leave 2 computers with two partners and have already heard from them on their new toys. They will be a great boost to the work they are doing, loans, kids to school and that sort of thing.


I’ve just heard from the US team. They have arrived in Amsterdam and are visiting a couple of missionaries there. While writing this I’ve also scoffed an amazing pepper steak and Helen has knocked of a couple or snapper fillets. It’s nice to eat Western again after all the local food. Tomorrow we’ll be back to that again, it’s lovely but we’re not entirely used to it.


We have another day off tomorrow if you call writing reports and updates time off, and then Monday it’s 6 hours north of here to Lira on a bus. At least the road is better than last time when I had the most uncomfortable ride in a bus ever!


We’re about to head back to the internet cafe to upload this and some photos and catch up on the scores in the Super 12 semi finals. Go the Blues, go the Crusaders!!!


It was encouraging to hear the comments of the US team at our final debrief. Their lasting impressions were related to the calibre of the partners we have a Bright Hope World. They also commented on the tragic poverty and the difference between Kenya and Uganda and Ethiopia. Ethiopia is so much poorer in comparison.

So we said goodbye to them and now look forward to the next few weeks. 12 days here in Uganda, a week in Ethiopia, then a week in both Pakistan and India. It still seems a long way to go but we are encouraged by your reading the blog and praying for us and sending us e-mails and messages. We are able to text as well from here. In each country we buy a local sim card. Check out the updated BHW website if you have some time: www.brighthopeworld.com 

 
Love
Kevin and Helen


the widows and their cows

2011-07-08

We have arrived back in Kampala for one night on our way from Lira to Katosi. We travelled up to Lira on Monday morning, leaving the hotel at 6:00 am and departing the bus station at 8:00. It was chaos. The hawkers were constantly coming through the bus selling stuff, an amazing variety. One wonders why you would buy the stuff they were selling while sitting on a bus. It was incredible as people shoved and pushed and shouted at us and all the others sitting on the bus to buy their goods. There were shower caps, sunglasses, torches with their lights flashing, radios blaring, dictionaries, shoes, cosmetics and toiletries. But wait there’s more....wigs, cell phones and chargers, soccer balls and toys, newspapers, chewing gum, kitchen graters , thermos.. AND then there was the food.....bread, samosa, donuts, peanuts, local food, sodas, water, fruit salad, biscuits and more. If you didn’t yield to their demands being pushed at you inside the bus, they shouted outside by our windows... Who needs to go to the Mall when everything comes to you while you sit on a bus for 2 hours waiting until it’s full? You don’t prebook tickets, just arrive and grab a seat!! And pay the conductor later....


Anyway, we headed off at 8:00 and got into Lira around 1:30. It was a pretty uneventful trip really, apart from the day old chickens constantly chirping behind us and the other chickens squawking and flapping from time to time.


It was great to spend time with our friends in Lira. They are a family that was devastated by the LRA, 28 kids, most of them related. This isn’t a normal partnership for us. It’s really too long term. But what can you do when you stumble across 28 severely traumatised kids in a refugee camp but go the journey with them. It’s lovely to see the progress they are making, the games they play and the camaraderie that exists in this special family. There is still a long way to go. We’ve been involved since 2005 but reckon we’ve got another 10 years of involvement before this one ends in its current form.


I (Kevin) come away from Lira an angry man. There were times there when I had to struggle to control myself; where if a certain individual walked into the room right them I would probably have to be restrained. This is a close family in Lira, kids who have been abused and raped and had those closest to them tortured and killed in front of their eyes. And still this community makes life as difficult as possible for these vulnerable kids. There is no justice or fairness, there is no protection, and nothing has really changed in grassroots Uganda. Another Idi Amin (Last King of Scotland) or Joseph Kony (Lords’ Resistance Army) could easily be produced by this disturbing place.


I am tempted to write a scathing attack and send it to the newspapers or storm into the mayor’s office and demand an audience. But I’ll make do with venting my spleen to you guys. Sorry, but I am incensed by the rampant corruption and injustice and need to get it out of my system.


It’s not the big things that are so irritating, it’s the day to day, constant rubbish ordinary people have to cope with. Earlier in the year there were elections in Uganda. Pretty much a joke really but the polling dragged on for months. The school year was severely disrupted and now, towards the end of the academic year it’s examination time. But of course, the kids haven’t been taught the whole syllabus and have little chance of passing their exams. So, “for the small fee of a few thousand shillings, we are available to tutor you so you pass the exams!” No payment, no tutoring, no pass! Education here has become an economic joke. It’s supposed to be free. But free here means the teachers don’t get paid so they charge the kids to give them free education. Everywhere we go we hear stories of kids being kicked out of school because the parents can’t pay the fees. The budgets for the Lira kids costs around $US400 a year to send a child to the last year of secondary school. How can they do it when that is more than their annual income?


And then there is the grinding mill. For a number of years a virtually complete grinding mill has been at the centre. So, last year with the help of a generous couple from New Zealand we built a place to operate the mill from and installed it. However, a neighbour who wanted the land objected and took out an injunction. For more than a year now the mill has sat ready to go but we can’t start it. The purpose of the mill is to generate local income to assist with the care of the children. Simon refuses to pay the bribes but of course the other guy is quite willing to pay. So, for the last two hearings the complainant has not turned up and the registrar has lost the papers, conveniently! But the day of reckoning is coming, he is going to be very surprised by the case we bring against him for loss of a year’s income, for all the costs associated with going to court, for every trip Simon has had to make to the court for a no show, for all the time he has had to spend getting the right papers....... watch this space.


Wednesday, Helen spent most of the morning interviewing Judy and Margaret, sisters. Judy is 27 years old, has 3 young kids, is a widow and she has just found out she’s HIV+. She is part of the loan scheme run out of the centre here. 30 widows are the beneficiaries. I was working on something else across the room and as I listened into the story I became more and more angry. These two women have a small loan and with it they buy rocks and tools and break the rocks into stones, by hand. When Judy discovered that she was HIV+, she decided she needed to let people know. I mean, all the counselling and the posters say that this is the best way. Be positive, be proud! Within hours of knowing about it herself her landlord came and asked her to leave the house. She was in the process of buying a cow and a couple of days later went to pay the final instalment. The guy she was buying from refused to take her money and refused to allow her to have the cow. “Who will look after the cow when you are dead” the cheeky sod says. So she asks for her money back. “I’ll pay it back in instalments he says.” I tell you, I was almost out the house at this stage to go visit him with a baseball bat! Like I said, this place is as corrupt, as Dark Ages and disgusting as it’s possible to be. Even the churches don’t welcome the HIV+ in these rural areas. Here’s a woman struggling to live, who can’t afford to get the ARVs (anti-retroviral drugs) that are “free,” who just the day before had her 2 school age kids sent home and thugs like these guys step in and abuse her all over again. They prey on the vulnerable. I cannot imagine what it will be like for them on the day of judgement as they stand before the judge of all the earth who does right and who loves the poor and vulnerable.


And then there’s the story of the widow and the cow! Another HIV+ widow in another programme our partners runs and another cow. She had saved hard to buy a cow. She drank some of the milk which gave her good nutrition which you need when taking ARVs. She sold the rest and with the proceeds was sending her kids to school. Anyway, she has a bad bout of ill health for some weeks and ended up in hospital. Someone else was looking after the cow, but it died! How the heck does a cow die just like that? So now she has no income, no nutrition and no schooling for her kids. Not even an apology from the person looking after it. Cows die, not their fault.


There are words that come readily to mind, probably too readily to be true, for the people I would love to meet on a dark night. I’d love to meet the guys who are leading the community in Lira and who for 3 years have been getting paid to audit the accounts so our partners can get a certificate to show they are a registered NGO and who laugh at them cause they don’t have a vehicle; I would just love to meet the two guys who are victimising Judy, evicting her from her house and stealing her cow; as for the politicians and teachers who should be funding the tutoring of the kids, hit them in the pocket the crooks; and the obnoxious guy who is perverting the course of justice and stopping the mill from starting, mmmm accidently cutting the water and electricity supply is sounding like a fair option right now; and the idiot who takes no responsibility for the cow dying, I reckon a night visit to his place might be a fair call.


But, at the end of the day, this is God’s problem to solve. But I understand that he is a loving God full of grace. But he is also a righteous and angry judge who will one day, maybe not even in my lifetime or theirs, revisit these issues. And all those nameless victims will get their reward. However, that doesn’t entirely deal with my problem and I think I’m going to remain angry a little longer.


Anyway, hope you’re having a great week and are able to process life a little easier than me. We’re off to Lake Victoria tomorrow and hope we survive the mozzies. Timothy and Janepher will be great as usual and it will be good to see the children there. Then it’s over to Jinja Saturday and preaching in church Sunday with Thomas and Joyce Lubari and their congregation of refugees and displaced people.


Love to all and have a great weekend.
Kevin and Helen


South Sudan, refugees and real change

2011-07-14

Timothy picked us up at 10.30 on Friday morning and we pushed our way through the Kampala traffic and eventually out of the city traffic chaos heading towards rural Katosi by Lake Victoria.


We stopped off at a really poor village in which Timothy and Janpeher have started a school. One of the issues here is the size of the need, these guys struggle to cope with it all and constantly find themselves starting new stuff..... and rarely finishing the last thing they started. There are 58 kids here in Mbale school, none of them were going to school a year ago. We talked about these people taking responsibility for their own children. They have money for booze and women, but not of course for houses, clothes and education. Until they get that message, how can you really help them? They need a church in that village that will help them address the real issues and introduce a whole new way of thinking and a transformed mind set.


Then onto Katosi. The kids at the school mobbed us and grabbed our hands, wanting us to play. There are now 456 children in the primary and secondary school and 168 in the boarding school. The cost of food has gone through the roof and this has bought them face to face with the reality of having to become more self-sustaining.


Had lunch at 3.00pm with the Headmaster and staff and we were given a tasty local meal which included potatoes, meat, ugali (mashed cooked bananas,) chapatti, rice, green vegetables and pineapple. It’s incredible how much food some of the little ladies could devour. I think they enjoyed extra treats like meat because we were there.


We wandered around teh village and slept the night at Timothy and Janepher’s home. They had given us one of the kids rooms with a single bed in it. L'il Kev sat on the bed and……crash. A couple of the wooden slats broke so we put the mattress on the floor and confessed about the bed in the morning. NO MOZZIES.


Timothy went up to the school at 5.30am for prayer with the kids. Little Purity crept into our room and decided it was playtime….so we got up. He was very fascinated with the computer, and all the things that visitors have in their bags.


Breakfast was the best sweet potato chips in Africa. Helen watched Janepher and her daughter prepare the food in the outside kitchen cooking on a charcoal brazier. Food preparation and cooking consumes a lot of the lady’s time and energy as does washing all the clothes by hand. No electric or gas stoves, washing machines, dish washers, vacuum cleaners or flushing loos, showers or baths. But they do have TV when the power works and cell phones.


Timothy took us back to Jinja and we had a lovely meal with our partners Thomas and Joyce. Our hotel is on the top floor…….57 concrete steps so we get some aerobic exercise several times a day….


Sunday we went to church with our friends and they sang and danced and clapped their way through an hour of singing and praise with their African drums playing.. Some people shared their testimonies of how God had helped them during the week. Kevin spoke and Helen prayed with two ladies afterwards…

It’s been good to have some time to catch up on emails, reports and skype our kids and Hugo.


I’m surprised you’re reading this after my last rant! Anyway, thanks to those who encouraged us with your comments, it means so much to know you are praying, not just for us but also for the poor. On our i-pod we have a number of sermons from various people. The ones we keep going back to are by Tim Keller. If you want your head and heart stimulated, listen to some of his material, it’s available online. Anyway, last night I was listening to a message on injustice and he made the following point and it goes like this:


“The biblical God actually chooses the poor and oppressed. It has always been the case that it is the poor who come to Christ. The gospel is particularly empowering to the poor – the gospel radically changes the economic reality for the poor. The gospel tells people they are valued by God and this stinking world will be sorted out by God. It gives people cosmic dignity and a role as his agents.”


I was reminded of this again this week as we spent time with our friends Thomas and Joyce Lubari. An amazing story really. Thomas was a refugee as a little baby and his mother died while he was still suckling. He doesn’t know what year he was born sometime around ’68 or ’69. His family fled from Sudan in one of the outbreaks of war and now he found himself in a foreign land with no mother and living in a refugee camp, what chance life.


But his dad, who was a gentle giant, found work and the family stabilised in Uganda.... until the rise of Idi Amin. Foreigners like them became targets and so they found themselves running again, north, on a bus, back to Sudan. So as an eleven year old he’s a refugee for the 2nd time and before they could even find somewhere secure and stable, his father took sick and died on the operating table of some “Arab butcher from the North!” Thomas mused that everyone who ended up on his operating table died and that it was probably a ploy of the north to kill the people of the south.


School became a major problem, in a “foreign land,” couldn’t speak Arabic, 13 years old and had no one to sponsor him to school. So began the most difficult years of his life as he fought, begged and worked his way through school. When his father died, the extended family took everything including all the crops growing in the fields and left the children to fend for themselves. All he managed to rescue was one goat. With this he managed to obtain on acre of land and on it he planted cassava. Over the subsequent years this crop and some generous got him through school coming out as the student president.


At 24 he had finished school and was now studying agriculture and another wave of terror swept through Sudan. Back on the road south again and for the 3rd time he’s a refugee. He has nothing but a strong faith to cling onto.


Since then Thomas met Joyce from a very different background they are married with 5 kids, pasturing a church in Njeru (most of the members are Sudanese refugees and internally displaced people,) leading a Bible school and running a micro-enterprise programme. How does this happen? It’s all about what Timothy Keller says, the empowerment f the good news.


We were here on the Sunday after South Sudan became the newest country in the world. Remember the 9th July, Independence day in South Sudan. There was a lot of joy and sadness as they celebrated the new future and remembered the thousands, millions who lost their lives in the struggle. So these guys have changed from being refugees to dispensers of grace, strength, security, mercy and economic empowerment for hundreds of people.


Remember that line from Tim Keller? God actually chooses the poor! Here’s another line from him, “Anyone with a true spiritual connection with God will inevitably do the same, choose the poor.” Now there’s a challenge for me, it’s like, the inevitable outcome of my connection with God, the test of the genuineness of the reality of being a follower of Jesus is - care for the poor. Of course there are many Bible verses he used. It’s a significant challenge and in a sense what drives us.


Then there is this little lady Jude we met in Jinja. An Ozzie / kiwi running a cafe to fund the support of vulnerable kids. She would have to be in her 70s. She’s been here 24 years and has given herself to the poor. She has bought up many Ugandans and given them a chance at life and at faith. She intimately knows the street boys – as I write this she is at the door of the cafe worrying about the street boy who is being beaten up over the street for stealing something! She tells us his story......


I’m not sure I can continue to grapple with the issues at this level of intensity for much longer. We’ve tried to have a couple of lighter days but you just cannot get away from the impact of poverty and corruption in a place like Jinja. It’s kind of enhanced by the huge flocks of tourists and volunteers who come through this place. It’s like central station, literally thousands of them, most of the young women carrying a local African baby from some home or other. It’s become a great big industry.


Today we leave Uganda, a 3 hour trip to the airport and then a 2 hour wait at the airport, a 2 hour plane trip to Addis Ababa and 2 nights there. We’ve got an appointment with a guy we met at the conference in Strasbourg, I’m looking forward to catching up with Mulugeta.
We’ve just heard from the New Zealand government that the bomb blasts in India have resulted in a travel warning for the two areas we want to travel in India. So we’ll keep an eye on it and keep you informed.


So dear friends, another country goes by and it’s time to move on again. Oh, got to ring the taxi guy so I’d better sign off.


Thanks for all your emails and messages and prayers.
Love to all
Kevin and Helen


In the presence of death

2011-07-21

This is our last day in Ethiopia for this trip. It’s been interesting with so much going on. But, when we arrived back in Addis Ababa from Entebbe a week ago, we got our visa and then waited for our luggage to come. We waited….and waited ….and waited! After several enquiries they told us it had gone to the wrong terminal and an hour later we were reunited with our bags. Helen was very relieved! Not the only one!


Friday we spent some time with Mulugeta, a guy Kevin met at the conference in Strasbourg earlier in the trip. We both ate something that day and our tummies reacted in different ways and directions! Fortunately we were staying in a hotel with our own bathroom. Next day we felt a lot better but Helen took a few days to recover. Thank goodness the doctor in NZ had given us some VG medicine for the occasion.


Then it was back to Gondar to spend 4 days with Worku. He is an amazing man and we appreciate his dedication to the partnerships and all the hard work trying to process paperwork and all the hassles he has to deal with. We spent a lot of the time talking through the future of the work. It’s interesting to see what is developing. It’s such a difficult place in which to do anything. So complicated, so slow, so oppressive and controlled. Even Worku has been on the point of throwing it in at times. There is no freedom to say, start a business. You have to seek approval, show how much money you have in the bank, and then wait, and wait and wait, and go back and reapply cause they lost the papers and wait, and wait ..... of course there are ways to speed the system up!! You have to have a licence to do anything, even to buy a cow you have to apply for a licence to buy a cow and of course, pay for the licence.


But it’s encouraging to see what’s happening, to hear of people being helped out of poverty, of blind kids learning to read and write in Braille, of people coming into relationship with God, of kids coming of the streets into school and of change coming into communities. We talked about kindergartens, schools, skills training, sesame trading, cattle farming, all for the purpose of helping the poor and assisting people to find relationship with God.


After the last two blogs we thought we should go a bit easier on ourselves and not get so worked up about what’s happening. But you know, we just can’t help it. You hear of the huge famine in East Africa, the first one of the 21st century and it’s in your face. There are people dying all over Africa (and other places too) in terrible circumstances and nobody cares. On Tuesday Helen wasn’t feeling great so stayed back at the hotel while kev went with Worku to visit a small town where Worku is starting a kindergarten.


There is a feeding centre in the community run by Worku. It was nice to visit and see the women coming in, having a meal, being encouraged and measured up for some new clothes. Some haven’t had a new dress for years. When asked, many couldn’t remember how long it had been. Anyway, while we were there we asked about the ones who had not come and we heard about one old lady who was now too old to walk. Her grandson came to get the food for her. Some of the widows were very concerned her and said we should visit. So we did. Mmmmm, it makes me mad just thinking about it.


We walked up through the village over huge rocks they call a road, it is also a river at times, and up to her shack, owned by the local government. We could smell the place before we entered, it was appalling. A room, 4 metres by 3 metres. Mud floor, wet mud floor. 50% of the walls had crumbled. 20% of the roof was gone. Three huge holes had been dug in the floor by the 15 year old grandson who was in sole charge of her. The holes were to catch all the water that poured in and when it rained he scooped the water out of the holes to stop the flooding. It started to rain. It was a full time job, even in a light rain shower to keep the water at bay.


She lay on the bed, under two blankets, damp blankets, damp with rain and urine. She muttered and groaned as we tried to rouse her. It was cold and dank, musty and dark. One old bed, 2 damp blankets, one plastic cup for scooping and rags wrapped around her and this was the sum total of this woman’s life. So fragile that I thought moving her might snuff out her last breath. Some of the women on our team were in tears!


The council refused to allow anyone to fix the building as it was condemned. They refused to give her another house as she was incontinent; her grandson whose parents have died had had to stop school to look after her full time. No one should have to live like this; no one should have to die like this. She will die, soon. But if our team has anything to do with it, it won’t be in that condition. And others will be spared that sort of death as well. We’ve decided to build a couple of rooms that people can die in, with support, with family, with friends and with dignity.


You know, when you’re in that sort of place, you wonder, what’s the point? The discussion after that visit, for the next hour or so, was less noisy, there was less laughter, a lot less laughter. when you're in teh room with poverty, you cannot turn off the TV, point the remote, change the channel and stop the famine and misery. There comes a point when you cannot just feed another person without asking the question, how did this happen? There comes a point when ordinary people have to get off their backsides and stand in front of the officials on behalf of the poor and confront the corruption that condemns people to die in misery. There are houses she could be moved too. There are people with the authority to make the change. And there is a growing team of people who are going to make a difference in that community because of the visit we made that day. Sometimes all we can do as outsiders is give people permission to make a noise. Some permission was given, some noise will be made.

I pulled out my camera to take some photos in the housebut honestly didn't know where to point the camera. And, it just didn't seem like the thing to do. It's kind of bad enough to be in the presence of this sort of extremity, but to capture it. At the end of the day, who needs another photo of poverty, who needs another photo of desperation. we have teh privilege of working with people who understand this as so we can help without compromise.

Apart from a day trip to the Sudan border to check out a cattle rearing project and apart from grappling with minor bouts of unwellness, we’re doing OK. Almost all the reports are up to date and it’s time to head off to Pakistan. We’ve been spoiled with pretty good beds and comfortable rooms.


Last night we had a meal with Mulugeta and his family and some other guests, Mary from England who has spent much of her life in Ethiopia with Wycliffe Bible translators and young Indian Engineer. It was nice and the family was very hospitable and kind and we laughed and chatted about some of the things we had in common like cricket!


Driving and walking in Addis sees us confronted by beggars in the streets demanding "give me” and knocking at the car windows. We observe 100s of people sleeping on streets under rags for blankets and sheets of cardboard and rusty old corrugated iron huts the size dog kennels. So much invades our noses, our eyes, hearts and heads and we move amongst it and then we leave and enter the world of a comfy hotel and nice food. Thank goodness God’s in the business of transforming lives and giving hope, in this life, and the next. It’s certainly way too big for merely human response.


Off to Pakistan in a few hours on our all nighter. 2 flights and a stop over in Dubai before we hit Islamabad at 7:30 am with temperatures in high 30s!!!


Thanks for love, prayers and emails and messages. 


we'll try to add some more pictures as well

Helen and Kevin


out of Pakistan and into the fire

2011-08-01

What a shock it was to land in Pakistan at 7:30 a.m. Friday week ago and find all our luggage had arrived and that it was already 30 degrees. It was an even bigger shock later, in a haze of tiredness to find the thermometer reaching 40 degrees. After Ethiopia where it struggled to reach 20 it was a shock. The hospitality has been pretty warm too. Last night we were in Kabul, the restaurant in the centre of Islamabad. The food was amazing, could get used to it.


We’ve spent time with Azam and Barbara and visited a sewing centre in the village of Rawat to help some of the community young people upskill so they can get jobs. There is a lot to talk about and plan for the future here. More sewing centres, adult literacy and micro-loans for those who finish training. This is just the first of the things we’ve seen. There is a school on Monday to check out, a Christian school in a very poor Moslem community. There are income generation partnerships to check and more people to see. And, lot’s of meals to eat!


That was up to Monday and now it’s almost Sunday, a whole week has gone. We’re in Delhi safely and can hardly remember the last week at all. There was so much going on and living with people meant the whole time was filled people. The best way to deal with everything is to make a list I think as we sit in the lobby of the Grand Milan Hotel, $13 / night!


I have to break into the story here as we have narrowly averted a couple of major disasters overnight. We’re staying in Pahar Ganj, a popular area for low cost travellers in Delhi. We were just about in bed last night, half after midnight in the Milan Dx Hotel, when there was a huge commotion outside in the hallway. People running and shouting and then what sounded like high pressure jets of water. We thought it might be a broken water pipe. Then more yells and commotion and the smell of burning rubber or plastic. We opened the door to be confronted by a huge wall of smoke, brown acrid stuff. We’re on the 4th floor, not a pleasant thought at the moment. So we quickly jumped into our clothes, packed our bags and pushed our way past people firing fire extinguishers and waving wet towels around trying to disburse the smoke. We struggled down the stairs with all our bags and made it to the lobby. The manager was calmly standing with a bunch of policemen and seemed surprised I wanted to leave. First he demanded we pay for the night which I politely refused and then he offered us accommodation in his other hotel along the road.


So off we go along the street, past dozens of people sleeping on the middle of the pavement to the Kumar International Hotel. The only things working were the cockroaches. So Helen guarded the luggage while Kevin wandered the streets looking for alternatives! Finally found one and crossed the street, not an easy thing really with all the concrete centre barriers and our luggage. With our entourage of willing helpers carrying our luggage we re-crossed the street and found ourselves in the lobby of the Hotel Aman Inn. Now the process of signing in! Helen’s passport, photo copy of the passport and the visa, fill out the huge book including name of father and mother..... Where the heck is my passport??? Searched the bags, nowhere to be found. Searched them again, still nowhere. So, Kevin heads of back to the Milan Hotel, people standing around in the lobby like nothing has happened. Up to the room through the clearing smoke still burning my throat and into the room. It’s been made up already waiting for the next unsuspecting suckers to walk into the building; but, NO passport. Back down 4 flights of stairs and all the staff still looking like nothing has happened, smiling serenely. “No sir haven’t seen your passport, and sir, would you please sign out and pay your bill.” NO to both and back to the Hotel Aman Inn!

By now its 1:30 a.m and it’s getting serious. We’ve only got 30 hours left in Delhi before we fly out and it’s Sunday morning and what do we do? I’ve arranged to meet a guy at 8:30 in the morning to go to church and spend the day seeing what he is doing and that’s only 7 hours away. So, we search all the bags again. Everything is strewn out in the lobby with the staff all watching while eating their curry and naan. They didn’t seem too concerned; everything is fine with the world! There are only two options, either it is still in the Milan or Kevin has dropped it somewhere. Frankly, neither seems like great options at that moment. By this time the sleeping pill that Helen had taken before going to bed was kicking in so she’s just about blotto. A photo at this time would have been something worth seeing!

So, Kevin decided it’s back to the Milan to try and get some answers. Out of the door, left turn and onto the dark street littered with sleeping bodies amongst the rubbish and filth of the previous day, no lights apart from the passing vehicles, people picking through the rubbish others groaning in their sleep on the filthy pavement. A flash of light and there is the passport, lying on the street! Some people on the streets will probably wake this morning with a strange, distant memory or nightmare of a large white guy jumping in the air clutching a little black book.

I’d like to think we had acted very spiritually and prayed about it. You know it’s tough in the middle of the night to follow the right procedure! My guess is that the outcome, a miracle of minor proportions, is the outcome of God at work in our lives because that’s what God does. He’s the leader of the team, he is there to protect and guide, he’s the initiator and we just really go along for the ride. Sure we pray but there is no formula. Thank you God.
Thank you too for praying for us, for holding us up in your prayers, for being on the team. Right then we needed God and we needed you and you were there. Bless you. Helen had the best sleep of the trip and Kevin didn’t! The alarm was set for 6:50 and we managed to put off the early departure and day at church. We’ll meet our contacts later in the day.
Anyway, back to the last week, let’s finish it off. Sorry for the interruption!

But we’ve already told you about that one.
Gotta go
Love to all and thanks
Kevin and Helen 

p.s. we have actually now got to Nagaland after a whole day sitting in planes and airports. will update again around the weekend. limited internet access at the moment


Nagaland, farms and pigs

2011-08-06

We’ve just been in Nagaland, North east India. It’s hot, it’s humid and there is no aircon. So, we have 2 or 3 showers a day to keep the heat at bay. Our friends do the same. Last time we were here, September last year, it poured with rain the whole 3 days we were here.


It was nice to be out of the city after time in Gonder, Addis Ababa, Islamabad, Lahore and Delhi. Now it’s a little farm on the outskirts of Dimapur, animal noises. Dogs most of the night and all sorts of other noises. It was great to see blue skies again for the first time in weeks after the smog and bad air and dust.This place is a demonstration farm which grows pigs, ducks, chickens, fish, cows and soon goats. So we’re out taking photos of it all happening. Subong, who runs the place is usually out buying and picking up food supplies for the animals. So we don’t see too much of him.


Delhi was a bit harrowing to be frank. It didn’t finish at the end of getting a room in the second hotel. Next morning Helen was walking down the stairs and slipped, landing on her bottom and both arms. Fortunately, her arms aren’t too badly damaged but her butt is still very sore. So she’s moving very gingerly and living on ibuprofen!


On Sunday we met with a potential new partner. A lovely couple came to visit us and shared their very powerful story. They are working very hard amongst difficult people and seeing great development. It was lovely to meet Sushil and Sarah. Hopefully you’ll hear something of their story in coming months and years. We kind of tried to catch up on sleep Sunday then at 4:15 am Monday we woke to catch the taxi to the airport. That trip was pretty scary, I’m glad there weren’t many other cars on the road. The driver did not seem to understand the relationship between the gears, the brakes and the white line on the road. All seemed rather disconnected and with less than a little English it was pretty hair-raising and not a great experience for either of us! But, we got there more by the grace of God than the skill of the driver!


We got to Nagaland after some confusion at Kolkata airport and delayed flights. It was great to see our friends and spend time with them. We really just hung out trying to understand the dynamics of the work here and the way forward. We had a meeting with the key people and made a few plans. We also met with leaders of a local missions movement who are developing plans to assist in Myanmar by training rural health workers. So, it was less intense than the previous two weeks but very worthwhile.
We’re sitting in the airport at Kolkata at the moment and I’ve just heard that one of the sows at the farm has had 12 piglets. Those piglets represent a sustainable lifestyle for 6 families in this context. It’s pretty encouraging. Over the next 2 months another 18 sows will give birth making significant changes in the lives of poor people.


So we talked, we met lovely people and ate pork. Well, Helen actually ate very little pork. Our partners here, Subong and Narola have given up a good future financially to start this farm to demonstrate a different lifestyle and way of thinking to local people. The church here in Nagaland is packed with people. Many are very poor and all the church gives them is sermons. Subong wants people to understand that it’s possible to look after their families and to challenge churches to get involved in the lives of the poor. So it’s a pretty radical move for them.


So here we sit, waiting for our plane to come. 4 hours to go, it’s a long evening. Then it’s Thailand and a week break before we head off again. I’ve tried to throw a few pix in so you can see what we’ve been up to.
See ya later
Kevin and Helen

p.s. the plane came and the internet didn't connect and we're sending this from Thailand. no sleep overnight. a 2 hour flight from Kolkata to Bangkok and it was 6:00 am, just like that.


heading towards home

2011-08-12

No worries in terms of our trip from Kolkata to Thailand. Not much sleep, but we’re having a break here by the beach to catch our breaths. 8 weeks is about all we can manage now we’re getting older. Gives us time to see each other again and clear our heads. So it’s nice to laze about and read and listen to some sermons and music and eat cheap Thai food! Mmmm, only 4 hours till dinner.


It’s hard to get the thoughts of the last few weeks out of our minds though, some things keep ringing in our minds and we thought we’d highlight some of those lasting memories about the people we’ve spent time with in the last few weeks.


Thomas and Joyce Lubari are an interesting couple. They are refugees from Sudan, their stories are very different but now, they find themselves leading a church full of refugees and internally displaced people in Uganda. While we were with them, their old country became the newest country on earth, South Sudan. You could see the hope in their eyes. We spoke at a church full of these people on the Sunday after “freedom” and there were many tears of hope and memories of those who were lost in the struggle. All of them have lost family members.


I got a note from Thomas two days ago, he went back to South Sudan. This tells you a lot about the man’s heart. “I am still in Juba. Life here is extremely difficult for the low income earners. As I travelled this morning in the bus I sighted two women at different places bending their heads down in worry about life. It is really difficult for the poor. Most of the people cannot afford lunch. They eat once a day, that is lunch or supper with no breakfast. Many who try to do some petty trading have no loan facilities to boost them.


All one can read and see in the outskirts is poverty in homes of many with a few leading heads of departments who are noted for possessing the most expensive vehicles and houses at the expense of the poor.


I really burn to serve among the suffering to comfort them with the Word and deeds.”
He went on to ask us for an advance as he had used up all his money on the trip that was needed to pay the university fees for one of his kids. They are so passionate about the poor and serving them they put the education of their family at risk.


Over the last few days I have been in dialogue with Azam and Barbara Gill our partners in Islamabad, Pakistan. We spent a week with them. Since leaving they have been out to visit again the areas where a year ago people were washed out of their homes by huge floods. People are still in tents and ramshackle dwellings. He wrote that his father had died and left him some land, and that he was going to sell the land and put the money into homes for these people still living on the banks of the rivers.


It’s a strange situation there. In some of the communities people have gone missing and not been seen again. In some places women have turned up, washed downstream and nobody knows who they are. They can’t read or write, they don’t know where they lived and they have always lived under a burkha so no-one recognises them. Azam and Barbara are working with mainly Moslem people still waiting for someone to come and help. They say 2.5 million people still don’t have houses, and now the monsoon has started again. What drives a family to sell their inheritance to help the poor? Amazing really.


While on this trip we’ve seen a lot of things and made a lot of discoveries about new opportunities for involvement in new partnerships. Let me outline a few:


• A micro-loan scheme for people in Myanmar who are bringing about change in their communities by confronting negative mindsets. There are about 7 or 8 great people initially to assist.
• A micro-loan scheme in Burundi for poor people in slum communities. We plan to visit their next year. We met an amazing couple who could lead this.
• Jordan – I have to be careful about what I say here. But, we plan to visit next year to meet a couple who run camps that 100s of young people attend each year. These are local kids and those running from places like Syria and Iraq.
• A bunch of Egyptian Christians who have started a good work in South Sudan. We’re talking to them about their dreams for that place.
• An adult literacy class in Rawat, a poor town outside Islamabad, Pakistan, for young adults, men and women who have left school way too early and now wish they had stayed. We were accosted by a number of them pleading with us to help them.
• And..... a frog farm in Thailand, a school leavers scholarship fund for skills training in Uganda, 2 orphan care programmes in Democratic Republic of Congo, investment in a nutritional food company in Cambodia – I could go on. There is no shortage of interesting opportunities that’s for sure.


We love spending time with our friends/ partners as we travel and get to stay in their homes. They are very hospitable and pamper us with lots of things like foot and neck and back massages and delicious food .Its lovely spending time with their kids and getting to know them, the older ones chat about life and their dreams and hopes. We’re always inspired and encouraged with the way they pray spontaneously and with such passion and tell us they pray for us every day.


Saturday we head off back to Bangkok and overnight there. Looks like we’ll call into a hospital to get Helen’s tail bone looked at. She is still in pain from the fall on the stairs in Delhi and after talking to the insurance people, they think it’s best to get it checked out. On Sunday Helen goes on to Cambodia for a few days while Kevin heads off to the Philippines for 4 days and then on to Papua New Guinea for 10 days. It will be strange to not be together after so long in the same space. Kevin will have to look after himself and get him to the plane on time.


So friends, we’re coming to the end of this trip, still over a week to go for Helen and over 2 weeks for Kevin. But we split up soon and have no idea about the access to the internet in the next part of the trip. Thanks for coming along for the ride. We’ll let you know when we get home and will stick a few more pix up as well.
Love
Kevin and Helen


a perfect volcano

2011-08-18

Hi there friends from Manila, Philippines.


Well, hi from Kevin at least. Helen is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and leaves later today to head back to NZ. She’s had ongoing back problems since falling on the stairs in Delhi and has been upgraded by insurance to business class from Bangkok to Auckland. So she’s rapt. She’ll have an overnight in Bangkok, near to the airport. She’s been getting some work done on her teeth as she’s been wearing a temporary plate for 3 years or more. So cheap compared to New Zealand and really good gear and smart young dentist. We were talking on Skype last night and she is stoked about the job and is really looking forward to seeing the kids and Hugo again.


The last few days have been interesting. I got to Manila on Sunday evening. Slept that night on the floor of the office of our partners here. Monday morning 3 of us headed out to the airport and flew to Legpasi, a city in Bicol Province an hour South of Manila. In the neighbouring townof Daraga we stayed for 3 nights as our partners ran a seminar for a group of young people who are starting a church there. This work is perched under the shadow of Mt Mayon, a very active volcano that just dominates the whole area. It’s famous for being the most perfect cone shaped mountain in the world. Very impressive I have to say. It last blew in December 2008 and the black lava scars are still very visible.
The whole area is covered with coarse sand from the last eruption. It’s all over the place, especially on the roads. Every time it rains more of it ends up on the roads. And it rains a lot. One afternoon we headed down to a wrecked church, buried along with more than 1,000 people in 1814. To get there we had to cross a river twice, both bridges washed away in 2009 in a cyclone. If it’s not lava raining down, it’s water. It’s a very volatile place and extreme. Some people are just returning to their homes after having run away or been evacuated in 2008 or 2009.


We stayed in a little village in a little house with the team. Ryan, Menchie and Madie rent he house and another team member lives further up the mountain. We spent 2 full days there learning and working through the issues they face as they seek to bring change to the community. These villages are full of fear and superstition. It’s a dangerous area as well with rebels everywhere trying to destabilise the government. The team were more worried about the rebels that the volcano. It’s hard not to be a talking point in a close village like that so everyone knew I was there.


Life for the guys there is pretty basic. Not many conveniences or easy days. It reminded me that the Christian life when lived out fully isn’t an easy life. Us Westerners have been able to control our circumstances pretty well for many years. But for the bulk of people, many of them Christians, it’s not that way, not even for one day. Every day is a challenge, every day is a tough grind. Some of the issues facing these guys are life and death. Some days they are hungry with no food, and sick with no doctor and they are forced to pray, to trust God for daily miracles. And the exciting thing is, God comes through. Life goes on. Things happen and God comes through, again and agin he comes through to the point where every day is full of miracles. It's an interesting, amazing way to live. You have nothing, but you have everything and all you'll ever need. it's interesting to see faith being lived as a lifestlye.


Yesterday I came back to Manila. We rode on a motorised tricycle, a plane, a mini bus, a jeepney, a train and another bus to get home. Oh, and we walked a fair bit too. The train station was crowded as was the train, there are times when it’s an advantage to be taller than most. At least I didn’t have my face in some else’s armpit.


Today we’ll spend the day talking to the team back here in the office and learning more about their lives and work. Ellen and Ella work on the team following up the young people and organising the training for the teams around the country. They are lovely people with a real love for the people they are leading. They are such fun as well and we laugh a lot..... and eat a lot to!


Tonight it’s off to Papua New Guinea. Sleep on the plane, ha ha. Then it’s 11 hours in the Port Moresby airport from 5:00 am and then on to Wewak. The guy from NZ I was to travel with in PNG has had to return to NZ so I’ll be there without him. He knows the area so it will be a bit more of a mission that I thought. I’m not sure about internet connections so I might be quiet for a while.


It’s about this time on a trip when my heart travels home and my body stays here. The next week will be tough to battle through. I’m sure I’ll make it but it’s not going to be easy. It’s always the same, especially when I’m by myself most of the time. There will be heaps of new stuff to see and experience. The main reason for being there is to check out a rice production project at Green River, right up on the border with Indonesia. I think it’s pretty hot up there. So it will be interesting, new and very rural. It’s one of the least developed areas of PNG. The local guy we deal with is from there and calls it the back pocket of PNG.


Anyway friends, it’s almost time for the team to arrive and for work to start. So I’ll say bye bye and hope that you have a lovely weekend.


Love to you all
Kevin and Helen


Home again, yay.

2011-08-30

It’s been a while, 95 days but who is counting! It’s been a great trip with so many highlights. But where to start. Mmmmm..... probably the last leg is a good place. Helen flew to Cambodia the day Kevin flew to Manila. She had a great time there with our kiwi friends Graham and Sue Taylor and Sue Hanna, catching up and getting some work done on her teeth. She’s been putting up with a temporary plate for almost 3 years and it was time to do something about it. So she’s home sporting new teeth and looking good. Able to chew without inconvenience for the first time for years.

Anyway, late on Friday night Kevin left Manila after a lovely time with the team at ECPM in Manila. They are such nice people, he loved his stay there with them. They took him to the airport through all the traffic and he got the plane for the 5 hours to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Our friend from New Zealand who was supposed to be there to travel with Kevin had left for medical reasons, so it meant finding his way with new people in a new place.

I arrived in POM at 5:30 am, bought a visa and entered the country. 1st time here, it’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. Then, a tedious wait in the airport until 4:30 pm for a flight to Wewak, stopping off at Madang. At least I got a lot of reports done, has to be some upside for waiting 10 ½ hours in Port Moresby airport. Arrived in Wewak on dark to be met by Kos, my host for time there. He took me to the flats we stayed in and I met Reuben, a local guy I was to travel with who was a rice expert. I was there to look at a large rice production project, so needed someone who knew a bit about rice. Had a light meal, chatted for a while and then to bed. Next morning, church, I was the speaker! After church I hung out with Reuben and an Australian couple staying below us who are there for a few years. Was able to download e-mails too so that was great.

Early Monday morning I flew on MAF from Wewak to Green River, 90 minutes to the West, near the Indonesian border. We landed on the airstrip OK and piled out. No vehicle but plenty of people. 30 minutes later no vehicle but news that it had broken down. It wasn’t going to come, so not a lot of options. Walk. Almost 2 hours later we got to the school, Green River High School. Could there be a more remote place on earth? I guess so, but it's out there. Lots of kids at school, lovely buildings, so far from anywhere. The only way in here is by plane or river, no road. So travelling takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. The school imports all the rice in small bags by plane. The cost is astronomical. Virtually nothing is grown there so the main diet is rice and 2 minute noodles! It’s pretty bad really. I was shocked that the other options were not being explored. There seems to be a major lack of initiative to do something different.

So we hung out with the leaders and all day Tuesday spent the day with the leaders of the community to see if there were options. Frankly, it requires some serious investment and leadership. Early Wednesday morning we walked out to the plane between the rain showers. We caught the plane, flew 40 minutes to Vanimo and spent an hour wandering around the town. Then back on the plane for the beautiful trip along the coast to Wewak. This is one beautiful place. Some thoughts:

• There are 1,000s of Westerners in PNG working in oil, gas and gold exploration. They are not a good influence socially or morally

• There are a lot of Chinese and other Asian people there too, mainly after fish and timber. Ditto above, I heard many stories about their willingness to bribe their way into deals. And more stories about locals waking up to the scam too late

• PNG is hugely difficult to get around in. It’s wet, steep and a long way between stops.

• There is a real lack of awareness about what development should look like.

• There are a lot of people being sucked out of the education, health and missions sectors because of the high wages the industries are paying. It creates many issues for development and church leadership in the future.

• There is a huge opportunity in Green River but is it for BHW? Good question. I’ll need some help to make that decision. We’re not driven by needs or opportunities, there are too many to fall into that trap. So, does it fit our values and does it address the issues that drive us? Not always easy to answer, especially when you know the people concerned.

After getting back to Wewak I realised that I had almost 5 days to hang out so changed my tickets to come home early. That saw me leaving Wewak on Friday instead of Monday and home on Saturday instead of Tuesday. So I was a happy camper except that, when we left Wewak, the plane was overweight so, ALL the luggage was left on the tarmac! I’ve now been home for a few days and don’t have a lot of clothes, lost all my underwear and can’t shave!! Helen is happy for me to be home! Ha.

And now, we're in the middle of a quiet week then back into it. Helen is going to the physio and doc for further help with the tailbone, this will go on for a while. We’re looking forward to our kids and grandson staying this weekend. We’ve got few reports to finish, a few new partnerships to write up and after next weekend a few catch ups with our team. Then on the 13th we’re off to Levin and then on to Christchurch. There is a lot of catching up to do with a review of all our partnerships and some decisions to make about new opportunities. We also have to make some plans for travel next year. There is so much going on that we have to think far ahead. There is an increase in the number of people wanting to visit partners.

So dear friends, thanks so much for the ongoing support and love, and prayers. We love getting your notes and hearing from you.

I’ll throw a few pictures onto the blog as well. Enjoy
Love to you all
Kevin and Helen


venerating the sacred tooth relic of Buddah!!!!

2011-11-23

It’s not a good look frankly, should have updated this a long time ago. Not like I haven’t had the time! Anyway, a bit of an update on bigkevandnell.


Life doesn’t stop when we get back to NZ after a trip. In fact, it’s more of the same really, all over the place. We just want to put on record that Bright Hope World is great and growing. We have new partnerships starting all the time and new people joining our team and going for it. As I speak, I’m in Myanmar and all of our field team are out there doing the damage. Jerry and Hayley are full on in Zambia with a lot going on. Hayley has left Jerry in charge of the girls and has gone to India with James Rees-Thomas and John Vlaming. James is visiting all our partners in India and a couple of new ones and John V has gone with him. So they are busy. Nicky had to stay back as the doc suggested she not travel in her “condition!” she’s pretty disappointed. Worku is busy in Ethiopia starting to build a school and. Check out the BHW website for an unbelievable story from there. Mark and Emma Stokes are in Thailand assessing our partnerships here and getting acquainted with them. I’m here to help them with that and then visit Myanmar to meet some great people and check out the possibility of a micro-loan scheme. So, it’s all go for sure.


Since we got back from our last trip at the end of August we’ve been pretty full on. 2 weeks after getting back we headed South and spent some time in Levin, our old home town, and then a week in Christchurch. Met a few people, had a BHW board meeting and downloaded heaps of stuff. With 180 or so partnerships to discuss, it just requires time and lots of talking. We got about 1/3 the way through the list.


The rest of September and October disappeared in a haze of meetings and reports. There are so many great people involved in what God is doing around the world and some of them have the craziest lives. Keeping up with them is pretty much impossible. We’ve also taken quite a few meetings and been helping out at our local church, Orewa Community Church. Oh, and organising next year in terms of trips. It looks like an amazing year. Here are a few things we’ve got planned:

It looks like summer is going to be pretty busy as well. As you will be aware, costs are going through the roof in New Zealand. It’s nothing like what’s happening in some countries. Our friends in Uganda are suffering with some staple foods going up 300%. It’s 3 more times expensive than a year ago for sugar. The other issue is that the US$ is weaker now so although they get more for the $ we send in, inflation is huge. So they are much worse off than a year ago. This also means that travel and living in these places for us has increased dramatically. So, December / January we’ll be working at selling cherries for a mate around Auckland. We feel if we expect the guys at the field end to be self-sustaining, we need to as well. Along with that we’ve lost a couple of donors so we’re going to try and fill in the gaps, plus a little. Not sure how long it will be for, probably around 7 weeks work, the worst thing is it means we’ll miss summer!!!


As I said, I’m in Myanmar. I spent 5 days in Chiang Mai in Thailand before coming here. Mark and Emma Stokes are in Thailand learning about our partnerships and meeting our partners. It was worth coming to help them come to terms with what it means to be the facilitator of a field. We spent time talking through the issues and one of days travelling through some of the villages in northern Thailand along the Myanmar border. It’s always different when you discuss issues on the field rather than in your lounge in NZ.


Right now I’m in Myanmar with Mark Stokes. We’re visiting our partners here and Mark and Emma will be deciding if they can cope with involvement here as well as Thailand. We’re spending some time with our partners out in Hmawbi and hour outside Yangon talking about the establishment of a loan programme here and we’ll do some training with them. The plan would be for them to set up a team to oversee the development of this project.

so it's been visiting our partners and celebrating the arrival of teh sacred tooth relic of Buddah. ha, just joking but it's no joke for the people, it's very serious. serious enugh for the country to stop and venerate!

our freinds here are great. love spending time with them. they are very kind and friendly. has a seminar for most of the day today and will see if there is the capacity to develop a micro-loan programme with a couple of groups of people.

Tomorrow it's off to Bangkok early and then back to Christchurch for a few days before arriving back in Auckland on Wednesday next week.

Thanks for your prayer and interest.
Kevin and Helen


This episode is bought to you the letter C - Christchurch, Computer, Cherries and CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-05

Last time we were in touch Kevin was about to leave Yangon in Myanmar. A couple of weeks have passed and he’s now back in Auckland. Thursday the 24th November he and Mark Stokes left Yangon at 10 am and flew to Bangkok. You lose 30 minutes on the change in time zones and the flight was just over an hour. Mark had to go through Customs to get his flight to Chiang Mai and Kevin had a 8½ hour wait in the airport. It’s not a bad airport, but he's already spent about a day in it this year already so there isn’t a lot else to see.

So, I did a few e-mails and bought a book, found a comfortable seat and stretched out for the duration. Did a bit wandering and boarded the plane and sat for another 11½ hours before landing in Auckland around 1:30 pm, Friday. Another wait, the plane for Christchurch didn’t leave to 8:30 that night, so another 7 hours. Fortunately Kevin had a couple of lounge passes so he hung out in the lounge and Helen came through around 5:30. More hanging out and some food and then off to Chch. It was good to get to bed that night!


Lazy day Saturday, spoke twice at Riccarton Community Church Sunday and hung out with friends. The next few days was meetings and decisions about the future of BHW as it is growing and developing. Lot’s to think about with more field personnel and more processes to develop. Pretty cool really though. We have such good people.


While we were away, some good friends raised some funds for a new laptop computer for Kevin. We got back to Auckland late Wednesday night and on Thursday went off to get it. I have to say, it’s such a fast, light, beautiful piece of tech, I’m afraid to touch it in case it gets damaged! Really though, it’s such a blessing. The old one was less the 2 years old and already very inadequate after more than a few incidents. I reckon my computer is being used around 10 – 11 hours a day on average. It’s really the only tool we use in this job. It’s so cool to have such wonderful, generous friends. Big ups to John and Carol and the friends who contributed to the computer. You are amazing. This reminds us how dependent we are on the generosity and support of our friends and family. It is very humbling to have you on eth team, giving, praying and encouraging, it would be impossible without you guys. So, big ups to you as well.

The next 2 months are all about cherries Christmas! To be honest, cherries will take most of our daylight hours for the next 2 months. Kevin will be driving and delivering them and Helen will be selling them in Albany Mall. If you’re in there say hi to her, and buy some. We feel it’s important if we expect our friends to be self-sustaining in the field then we need to do all we can to help ourselves and model that as well. The costs of travelling and spending time offshore goes up every year so we are earning some extra to assist with that.


However, it would be remiss of us not to wish you all an awesome Christmas. Our friends out there will all have very different experiences of Christmas. Most would not recognise our Christmas as being particularly Christian frankly. I am challenged by some comments I heard recently that we don’t end up worshipping the Western god of consumerism this Christmas, but we put our hope in the one who was born in an animal’s stable and who lived his life amongst the poor.

The kids will all be here this Christmas and it will be a lot of fun with Hugo now 3 years old and understanding more about Christmas. He is such a funny little guy.

Thanks for another awesome year of partnership and freindship. We hope you are encouraged that God is at work in amazing ways in this great world of his. check out the Bright Hope World website and read some of the stories. Next year looks like another full on adventure and we’ll be in touch again before heading away again in February.

Happy Christmas
Kevin and Helen


2012 - the next chapter begins

2012-02-14

Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, the start of another trip and another year of visiting our partners. I want to share a few things about plans for the future in this blog. Of course, most of it is not in our control so we throw it out there for your interest and if you pray, for your prayer as well.


So, Chiang Mai in the Northern Thailand, 12 days. Kevin is there with a team from a couple of churches in New Zealand. They’re there to work with our partners here called Integrated Tribal development Programme (ITDP) who are an awesome group who assist the Hill tribes of Thailand begin the pathway towards holistic development. We’ll be in the bush for 10 days starting tomorrow. Kevin actually only stays there for 5 days and then heads off to Laos to check out a new partnership opportunity.


Kevin is away 13 days all up and will miss Valentines Day and his birthday with family. Anyway, no big deal.

The week before I left for Thailand I was with Rob Purdue in the Marlborough Sounds. It was supposed to be summer but it was freezing. Here in Chiang Mai it’s winter and very warm! Anyway, while in the Sounds we had some of our team come and spend time. Over Waitangi weekend James and Nicki Rees-Thomas were with us talking through our India partnerships. It’s great to hear the recent stories of James’s trip to India. Lives being changed, people being fed, people rescued from the life on the streets, little kids in school and safe, women learning to sew and develop economic independence….. it just goes on and on. We’re also facing some challenges there, but James and Nicky are great at thinking through the issues.


Helen stayed back from the South Island trip. She’s got a bad back, possibly from the fall last year in India but also probably aggravated by the work with the cherries. She’s getting treatment for that, it’s a concern but she’s trying to get it sorted with not a lot of improvement till now. The cherries went OK, it was a tough year for them with the bad weather and not many around.


While in the Sounds Fraser Scott came through for a couple of days. Fraser is the executive director of Bright Hope World. We went through every one of our partnerships, talking, praying and thinking through the way forward from our end. It’s very encouraging to see the development and the lives being impacted. We also worked on some other strategies around the growth of the work which is very encouraging.


2012 is a bit of a transition year in a sense. We think it’s time to cut back on the travel after this year. We have a growing team able to do some of that and so they will pick that up. We’ll still concentrate on East Africa and new opportunities, but 5 – 6 months out of NZ will drop to 3 months and then lessen more after that. We’ll concentrate on building some depth in our NZ partnerships and a few other projects back in New Zealand. However, we have to get through this year first and so far it looks a little like this:

So, you can see it’s going to be fully on and plenty to see and process.

I’ve just spent the last two days with our current team arriving and orientation in Thailand. Interesting to visit a Buddhist temple and observe nice people on such a pointless journey. The whole faith is built on a cycle that you can’t get off. What a difference for those who follow Jesus. Future hope, for today, tomorrow and even after death. No fees to pay, no merits to earn, no candles to light or incense to burn, no treks around a clockwise path, just to trust Jesus…… amazing really. And then the journey becomes one of following and serving and living life to the max.


Our team is pretty much ready to go. Tomorrow we’re into the bush having met all our ITDP friends. We’ve planned the time out in the Red Lahu village with cultural stuff, lots of digging of trenches, mixing and pouring cement and building a couple of toilets. It’s 35 degrees Celcius today so digging is going to be interesting in that heat.


I’ll be out of contact till Sunday with no cell coverage. When I get out on Sunday I’ll do another update. It will be nice to sleep in a nice bed again after the floor for a few nights. Should have plenty of photos as well.


Welcome to another chapter in the journey with us. Love to hear from you if you get a change. We are so encouraged when people drop a note onto the blog or send us an e-mail.


Love to you dear friends
Kevin and Helen
p.s. managed to talk to Helen on Valentines day so that was nice.


a legacy of hope

2012-02-19

Hey, I survived the 4 days in the hill country of Thailand! Actually, it wasn’t that difficult. The ITDP team have an amazing cook and we ate very well. Though, there were a number of early mornings, sleeping on the floor was fun! Yea right!

The 13 kiwis on the team left Chiang Mai on Wed morning after a couple of day’s orientation in Chiang Mai. We drove into the hills about 3 hours. It’s not a very remote village, the tar seal stops in Huey Sai. But the tribal people we worked with in this village are a tribe that has not integrated well into Thailand. They are at the centre of the drug trade and although the village has been there for 40 years, still has no water. They walk long distances to get water so life is a struggle. while we were there a squad of soldiers came through on patrol.

There is no proper school and of course once the kids leave the village to go to boarding schools and hostels they never want to return. The girls get married at around 13 – 15, in fact on Friday there was a wedding in the village and the bride was 14!

We got to the village and settled in on Wednesday and got straight to work. That first afternoon we got water to the village, mind you, the locals had bought the water in pipes about 4 kms by the time we got there. But we saw the kids standing under taps and enjoying the first drops.

During the 4 days I was there we dug many metres of ditches for water pipes, shovelled hundreds of shovels of sand and stones for concrete, mixed dozens of batches of concrete for the water tanks, filters and bases, built 3 toilets and did three children’s programmes. So it’s been a busy time and with the temperatures in the mid – high 30s it’s been pretty hot.

Washing in the river at the end of the day was great. It’s the first trip we’ve done like this and it’s been real interesting talking with the team each day about their thoughts. There are huge issues in these villages related to poverty and it was very obvious to our team. But there are also some keen people wanting change as well and it was good to meet with them.

The team is doing great. They are hard working and also a lot of fun. We’ve laughed a lot, mainly at each other and they’ve made me feel real welcome. We’re looking forward to a long term partnership with the 2 churches and with our friends at ITDP. There were a lot of good vibes and shared values.

The village of Huey Sai is a pretty noisy place. The roosters start at around 3 am and the dog’s chime in about an hour later and we get up at 6. Once the kids are awake there are fights, games and shouting and laughing all day long until late at night when we sloped off to bed. Each evening we had a meeting with the village leaders to review progress and address issues. 

Today was a day off for the team. They were going to walk to the source of the water project, a round trip of 3 hours. They were going to go to church, about 20 families have become Christ followers in the last 4 years, they we going to meet the local “shaman” (witchdoctor) and see some cultural stuff, teach the young people to play cricket and to lay volleyball. Sounds like a good day to leave. About now they will be knocking off to hit the boards for another night on the floors.

I left the village at 6:30 this morning with Mike Mann and drove back to Chiang Mai. I’ve spent the day trying to catch up on e-mails. Some very exciting things going on. Here are just a few of the things we’re working on, well I should say our partners are working on:

Oh well, I’ve got the rest of the day sorted anyway!

It’s been good to talk to Helen today and catch up. Only 5 nights till I’m back in NZ. She has been pretty busy with her friends and she just loves hanging out with them. I’ve got one night here in Chiang Mai and at 5:30 tomorrow am I head off to the airport and a 3 day trip to Laos. It’s going to be interesting, not been there before and it’s not a nice place for Christ followers. So we’ll see what’s going on and if there are opportunities for development. I’m not really sure what to expect, but that’s not a new feeling! I fly from Chiang Mai to Ubon Ratchanthani and then drive to the border and on to Pakse, I think about an hour inside Laos on the Mekong River. I’ll be checking out an agriculture project and see if their values are similar to ours or not. Also, hope to meet some other people but can’t guarantee that.

Thursday I’m back to Ubon and Friday fly to Chiang Mai to meet up with the team and fly back to NZ, then it’s report writing and preparing for the next trip mid March.

Seriously, our partners are doing outstanding work here. It’s hard to become a BHW partner, we only deal with exceptional people. I guess if you’re exceptional, then that just becomes your everyday lifestyle, you just do things well. I tell you, it takes a lot of strength, patience, vision and courage to do the stuff our ITDP partners do week after week, year after year. It’s huge….. but the payback, and we saw some glimmers of it this last week in the village, is hope in people’s eyes, belief that someone cares, excitement about the future and just a hint that poverty does not need to be the legacy they pass on to their children.


Thanks for being part of that dear friends.
Kevin and Helen.


a laosy birthday

2012-02-24

Another airport (3 actually) today and 3 flights back to New Zealand. It’s been an interesting few days since leaving the team in Huay Sai village in THailand. I’ll be meeting them again in about 3 hours as we make our way back home from here.

Laos was interesting. Different a bit like rural Thailand in some ways, less sophisticated and a strange old world charm. Many older buildings obviously have a French influence. Friendly people, lovely food and very hospitable hosts. It made for an easy introduction for my first visit to Laos. If only every country was so easy to visit the first time. I was also surprised at the amount of English around on signs and in conversations and the large number of tourists checking out Southern Laos. It’s obviously found it’s way into the Lonely Planet guide.

A few observations:

• Everything takes a long time. It’s like I remember Zambia back in the 1980s.maybe not that bad actually.
• Being a communist state, there is little entrepreneurial spirit. Dependency is a major barrier to development. They are always waiting for someone else to come up with the idea
• God is at work there despite the government restrictions on freedom. If you’re a local and get arrested you are sent to Vietnam for a “seminar”
• One has to be very careful about using certain words and terms
• There are no missionaries but numerous businesses
• There is a lot of persecution and some very dark places spiritually
• The people are very shy


I spent most of my time looking at coffee farms. It’s a really interesting project. A guy from another Asian country has invested huge amounts of money in setting up a company, acquiring land and developing a coffee growing operation. It’s around 70 hectares, so not small. That’s around 200,000 coffee plants. At 3 kg per plant, that will be about 600 tonnes of coffee. Local growers are trained, given some land (around 2 ha) on an annual basis, they are monitored and have to tend the land and plants. At the end of each year they are paid and in year 1 they purchase their own piece of land. At the end of year 2 they use the money to build a house and in year 3 they use it to plant coffee trees. By this time they know how to look after it. They can then stay on for 2 more years as their plants grow by which time they should be able to make a living off their own small farm. The idea is to assist people who would never have the funds of the skills to become self sustaining.
The Bolaven Plateau where the coffee is grown is an interesting place. More than 2,500 farmers of various sizes tend their trees. Most of it is Arabica coffee and there is a good infrastructure to support the industry. There is real potential to help many become economically self sustaining. One of the options here is to assist the farmers who finish, to set up for themselves in other coffee growing areas. The opportunity seems to have potential.

They also have a great cafe in Pakse. A lot of toursits go through and locals are now drinking coffee. Hopefully it will become profitable soon. So if you're ever in pakse, I can give you the details. It's one of a chain being developed around Asia to take the Lao coffee. There are 3 others established and the latest one is about to start in Shanghai, China.


The second programme I looked at was run by some kiwis and others. They teach English to fee paying students and then run a life skills annual programme for poor rural kids to help them get skills and employment. They teach baking / bread making, housekeeping and a lot of other stuff. Interesting to see the changes it makes for these young people.


It was great to stay with D and T, my hosts. They have lived in this area for 20 years and are fluent in both Lao and Thai. We ate out one night at a boat restaurant floating on the Mekong River. It was very pleasant and the food was beautiful. Loved Lao food. It’s a huge river too.


Anyway, now there is a lot of thinking to do.


There is a lot of stuff going on in Bright Hope partnerships at the moment, both good and bad. Answer me this! How does a 14 year old healthy girl die of tonsillitis? It makes me real mad. Pamela was encouraged to go and visit her extended family in the village during school holidays. A month later she’s dead. Tonsillitis they say, but her tonsils were obviously treated by some local jerk in a village and she got infection and died. It makes me want to yell and scream and bash some heads together. I seem to recall feeling this way before. Our friends there have been deeply affected by this tragedy. What do you say to encourage and support them. Hard stuff. I’ve often said you don’t play around with Africa, it bites you, stings you, chews you up and spits you out.


For almost 2 years the same partners have been fighting a court case to start grinding maize as a business. A neighbour took out an injunction against them and it’s just dragged on and on in the courts with bribery and no shows by the complainant. Last week, just as it’s about to be settled, the lawyer of our partner is killed in a car accident!! What next, what do you say, how do you support appropriately. Some days it just seems like there is no end to the injustice, no end to the stupidity, corruption and death.


Recently a number of our key partners have had unfounded accusations brought against them. So we get an e-mail from some gutless, anonymous person accusing them of terrible things and it’s so hard to know what to do. So we do what we can and have to trust our good friends and the strength of our relationship with them until we can be there. Sometimes you just feel powerless and frustrated. But at the end of the day, it’s God who defends the weak, we just do what we can to support them.


Today is my birthday. Ha, I look around the domestic departure lounge in the airport at the hundreds of people and not one of them knows my name or that it’s my birthday. There’s a family playing cards having a lot of fun (reminds me of taking our kids to Zambia in the 80s and the fun we had in airports.) There’s a tour group with a lady blaring on a megaphone to keep her chicks from running amok and getting lost. There’s group of Italians shouting a yelling in conversation. There are a number of old guys with young Thai chicks (can’t wait to get home to the familiarity of a 38 year marriage!) and I wonder why would you do it! A bunch of dirty, woolly haired, dreadlocked young people meander past with skate boards, backpacks with helmets dangling off them, back from some wild adventure and heading for the same gate a group of faceless Muslim women waddle past and I wonder what they’re thinking as they follow behind a bunch of young Thai girls in short , short, shorts! Diversity. Some people shouting, some snoozing, others hurrying, many just staring into nothing and there’s a couple singing, weird!!! It’s about time I went and got a coffee. All this people watching is driving me mad!


What’s this got to do with my birthday? Nothing really, nothing at all. Feeling a bit lonely I guess. But one more sleep till I get home and we’ll do birthday in a couple of days. So it’s goodbye to Laos and Thailand and the end of another trip. The scary thing is that it’s only 18 days until the next one starts.


Hope you guys are doing OK. Thanks for taking an interest in what we’re doing and that you care to read what’s going on in our lives. We really appreciate you. We have so much to thank God for – you are a big part of that.
Love
Kevin and Helen.


FIRES

2012-03-06

Mmmmmm, it’s been a pretty difficult week really. Too much on and too many people hurt and damaged for it to be comfortable week. Just a couple of stories to follow last blog and Pamela’s death from tonsillitis.


We’ve been working with a group of people in Myanmar, helping them to become self-sustaining. For around a year they have been raising chickens and selling them. They get in a batch, raise them, sell them and so on. They were onto their 5th batch when a wild fire swept through the area, burned down a Buddhist monastery, a heap of other buildings and of course, our friend’s micro enterprise. This was not a small operation and it’s taken away the source of income for a number of people. What to do now? I was just there in November last year wrote about them in a blog.


Then yesterday we got an e-mail from our partners in Chiang Mai, where I was a couple of weeks ago with a team from NZ, putting in a water and sanitation project. The e-mail and pictures showed that a fire had swept through same village destroying the houses of 14 families. Fortunately no one was injured, but it burned everything including their house, clothes, identity cards, foodstuffs, the lot. It’s such a shock to see the photos of them standing where their houses were, just a few burnt sticks in the ground all they have to show for their lives. But they have got water!!! What’s the journey with them now I have to ask myself?


Anyway, last time we wrote Kevin was feeling a little sorry for himself, all alone on his birthday in Chiang Mai airport! Anyway, he connected with the team later in the day, made it to Bangkok and on to NZ. He even slept a little on the flight.


Life has been a whirlwind since getting back home. Got home Saturday and chilled out for a couple of days. Then Thursday we headed south and talked to a few folks in Matamata about a partnership they going to support in Uganda. Lovely to meet the missions team at St Andrews Matamata and catch up with an old friend, Bev Turner. Then 3 nights in Tauranga with Karl and Sara. We made plans for their trip to Africa with us later in the year. Great to see them again and to catch up. Sara is into crafts in a big way and Karl is building a deck on the front of the house. Saturday afternoon and evening we spent with Mark and Emma Stokes talking through the Thailand and Asia partnerships. Such an inspiration to be with young people so passionate about God’s kingdom and his people.


Sunday we went across to Rotorua and stayed with our friends Tony and Kath Noble and their crazy kids. Well Jane is crazy anyway! Talked to the church they lead and caught up with friends there and Monday back to Auckland with two meetings on the way home.

We’re heading away for a couple of days break Thursday and Friday and then it’s Helen’s birthday on Sunday and Monday Kevin is off on the next leg of the journey. 


So it’s been pretty full on, but some awesome things happening. More people partnering, more opportunities developing, great reports coming in, real challenges to face with our partners and today we started another new partnership in Uganda. So it’s all go.
100 years ago this year Kevin’s grandfather left home and got some land in Levin. It’s kind of ironic that 99 years later the last of that land was sold and this week we wound up the company that owned the land. It’s the last real connection we have with Levin apart from our good friends there. A bit sad really I guess. But life goes on and God has a different plan for this generation of Honores.


Monday, Kevin heads off to Uganda. A team flies in later in the week from the USA and he’ll have a week in Uganda with them and then 4 days in Kenya. They will largely be looking at micro-loans and meeting leaders and beneficiaries of loan programmes. Should be an interesting trip and we hope this church will invest heavily in microloans. Uganda is suffering from high inflation and our partners there are really hurting.
Then it’s on to Jordan for a few days to check out some new opportunities. That’s going to be really interesting and he’s hoping he gets to go to Petra while there. Evidently it’s an amazing place.


So, he’s going to take lots of photos and share them with us!! Not sure that there will be much time for internet and the likes, but we’ll try. Helen has plenty to do while Kevin is away. So, tighten your seat belts, we’re about to take to the skies again and to meet some amazing people.


If you get the chance, even a minute or too, please pray for those who have lost homes, possessions and jobs t in the fires and also the poor whom we work with, the 2+ billion people who tonight go to bed hungry and who exist on less than $US2 a day.
Love and thanks
Kevin and Helen


doing the right thing

2012-03-18

Beautiful really. I’m sitting in the lounge bar of the best hotel in town. It’s 4 pm and a storm is brewing over the surrounding hills. I know they are surrounding cause the hotel is perched on the highest hill in the town and there are 360 degree views of the district. The town is Rukingiri in the south of Uganda, about 60km east of the Congo and 100 north of Rwanda. Find that one on a map, say it out loud 10 times quickly! It’s beautiful country alright, but it’s a loooooong way from Auckland. I guess there are further places, but I bet they don’t feel as far as this one does!


To get there I left Auckland on Sunday evening and flew to Sydney. A couple of hours there and then 14 hours to Dubai. First time on the A380, loved it and in the almost full plane had the seat beside me vacant!! Arrive in Dubai about 5am and waited 3 hours or so, then 4 hours to Addis Ababa. And hour wait on the plane and the final flight of 90 minutes to Entebbe. Sweet. Managed to rest up a bit Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday though there were a number of things to sort out. Had to confirm details of the trip next week with a team from the USA. Had to sort out money and a vehicle for the week, get a sim card and a modem for the computer.


6:00 am Thursday while still dark I jumped on a boda boda (back of a motorbike) and swerved through the traffic to the bus station. Got on the bus amongst all the pushing and shoving and with our partner Justus we found a seat. Just because you’ve got a seat, doesn’t mean the bus us ready to go, does it. So we waited and waited and were entertained by 3 totally drunk guys on the veranda opposite who were trying to recover from a night on the town! After a couple of hours we actually started the journey and we jostled and lurched our way to Rukungiri, arriving around 2 pm. A couple of hours later is began to feel like I’d been in a tumble drier rather than a bus. Getting too old for this methinks!


Anyway, I’m here now and have spent much of the last 24 hours with our friends in this area. They are a very keen, quite young bunch of guys who just want to see God’s kingdom being advanced in their area. It’s very inspiring to hear them talk and think through how that could work best. It’s about cows here, but it’s not that simple really. The levels of poverty are up there in terms of severity. And the guys with the vision are as poor as those they want to help. It makes for interesting discussions.


Tomorrow it’s back into the tumble drier for another 8 hours of torture, I’ll be glad to have much of Sunday to recuperate. Got one appointment on Sunday and then the team arrives late in the evening. Should be fun visiting our friends with them and helping them understand the dynamics of partnership and micro-enterprise.


If I survived the wringer, I’ll be back in touch later in the week. Helen is pretty busy at home with meetings and sat is sharing with a group of women from our church family. Her back and legs are still bothering her so that’s an ongoing issue. Hopefully it will be sorted by the time we head again (together) off in early June.


I have discovered something. There’s something worse than being tumbled around in a full tumble drier! It’s being confined in an empty one for 8 hours. I’m now back in Kampala after being flung around the inside of a partly full bus. Because it was half full, the flippin thing could go faster. So the guy drove like a maniac the whole way. And because it was half empty, he stopped to pick up everyone he could. So although he drove fast, he stopped often and it took longer than the other direction! Nevermind, I got here safe after an interesting journey. Actually, I wasn’t looking forward to this trip, the night before I got a dose of the screaming-you-know-whats, so was I was more than a bit apprehensive about this trip. But, it worked out OK, thank you Lord.


Lot’s of stuff to work on now. The guys in Rukugiri are real goers. They have started a school in a community with about 90 kids. They are starting an income generation programme and want to move on to a micro-loan programme as well. and they have nothing, well, nothing but a vision and a confidence that God will come through for them. It’s a funny little town. Very rural and quite small compared to other places. But a lot of challenges for people, especially families trying care for and educate their kids.
Also, a couple of the guys in the team want to marry and the families of their wives want a lot of money before they will allow it. So I was involved a lot in trying to encourage them. It’s such a burden for them. The Christian people don’t do the dowry thing, but their families expect it. If they don’t comply, they become outcasts from their families. Tough choices.


Also got some negotiations to do with one of our partners about commencing a farm in South Sudan. This will take place on Monday after meeting with the US team. It’s going to be an interesting discussion. There are lots of opportunities in South Sudan, but lots of challenges as well. I’ll need wisdom for that one and negotiating skills.


Interesting being in Uganda at time the Invisible Children video came out. Some of our partners were involved as victims of the LRA, Kony and his thugs. I’ve heard stories from them that you would not believe possible. The guy is not human in terms of his thought processes. It’s amazing the reaction to the video in the West and I notice that many of my friends on facebook think it’s the greatest thing. But, I’ve got a number of problems with it. One, it seems like a major driver is some sort of revenge / retribution. None of those promoting it were the real victims and the real victims feel very differently about it. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to meet Kony in a dark alley, but what would Jesus do if he met Kony in a dark alley. You know what, just like my friends in the North of Uganda, the real victims, he would probably expose him to justice and in the process of the trial he would forgive and seek to restore.


It requires a very different response from Christ followers, one that reflects the intense longing of God’s heart for justice but ….. there are many aspects of justice, reconciliation, recompense, confession of guilt and forgiveness. Yes, forgiveness. The guys who produced the video have done so out of good intent I’m sure. But it’s not as simple as they make it out to be. They need to empower the local people, the victims to come up with their own solutions. And my guess is they would be rather different.


The locals don’t get the irony of making Kony a hero. That’s a Western, non African figure of speech and frankly it’s not helpful here. To me it’s another example of good intentioned people blundering into an issue without respecting the real stakeholders. I also find it surprising at a personal level that so many Christ followers have jumped onto the bandwagon with scarcely a comment about the perspective of the African people who are suffering.


Now hear this, I’m not saying something shouldn’t be done. I’m saying that the wrong processes have been developed and that I fear that apparent driver, revenge or retribution, is something that rests with someone other than the promoters of the video. Is God out of control? No. Do I understand this or God’s timeframes? No again. Am I comfortable with what’s happened? No of course not! But do I trust God in this situation and can I trust him as I work with the terrible consequences of the LRA actions? YES. And I will so all in my power to move towards the victims to show them God’s grace.


I’ve not really explained this very well. I apologise and hope I don’t lose a lot of friends over it. But in 4 days I will be with our friends who are the real victims and I just know the sadness that will creep into their eyes as we talk about it. They are not thinking revenge, they are dealing with a lifetime of trauma that has been inflicted upon them. And they will do that with dignity, joy, forgiveness and hope, despite their history. And some of them will die as teenagers because of Kony’s activities. But it will not be with revenge on their lips, it will be of praise to their God, the one who rescued them and forgiveness in their hearts. I know this, I’ve spent hours talking to them and the peace and patience is intense. And it’s the peace and forgiveness that sustains them not the need for retribution.


I just hope this isn’t just another Western “solution” to an African issue. My guess is that it may well be. Good intentions, delivered inappropriately actually do more damage than good. I get it that people want to do something, but doing the right think requires respecting the stakeholders at the very least.


It’s only a few hours until the team from the USA arrives. Just hoping all the arrangements come together and they have a great experience.
Thanks for being with us in this thing
Missing my girl a lot at the moment
Kevin


Visible Children

2012-03-27

Mmmmm, the last few days have gone by in a blur really. I meant to write earlier but it’s been full on with the team. Last time I was about to head off to pick up the team (the team) from May Valley church in Seattle, Washington, USA. 5 people arrive and I’ve still got them all with me, that’s a bit of a plus when you’re doing this sort of thing, not losing any of them!


Picked them up at Entebbe, Uganda 8 nights ago and here we are in Nairobi, Kenya with only one more sleep left. So much has happened it’s hard to recall it all. But we met some great people. Let me introduce some of them to you. First, after a night in Kampala, we headed over to Jinja. There we met Thomas and Joyce. They gave us a beautiful lunch and then took us to their church. We interviewed a number of people and heard their stories of hopelessness and poverty. They also talked about their loans and how these had helped them. Pretty desperate this place, the team was shocked by the level of poverty. It was pretty intense for them, and these people in Njeru, Jinja are very poor. Thomas and Joyce are helping these people gain some economic independence but there is still a long way to go to achieve that.


After a night at the Explorer Inn, we headed over to Busia, 2 hours away, right on the border with Kenya. We spent the afternoon with James and Gorret Mayende. They are leading a large work there, but the focus was on micro-loans and their impact. We interviewed some of the beneficiaries and heard stories of great change. One guy we had interviewed on previous occasions came out with the new second hand car he had just bought. He has done this from the loans he has received. He’s worked his way up over the last few years to be totally self sustaining. 2 years ago he was a street boy. Now he has his own car as a taxi and I building his house for his wife and family.


We had hired a car and driver for the trip and Robert turned out to be a great driver. That cannot be said for many of the other drivers we passed by on the trip around Uganda!
Then the following day it was over to Mbale, 2 ½ hours. A large town overshadowed by Mount Elgon and a very spectacular place. There we spent a lot of time with Anna and Simon and the ladies of the loan programme. Only ladies in this one. We visited a number of their businesses and were very impressed by the strong bonds of friendships these women have forged together. Awesome stories, but at the time great sadness. There were 15 women in the room at one stage and between them they were housing, feeding and sending to school more than 130 kids. A few months ago none of them had jobs. Most of them were widows, I think only two with husbands. This was raw poverty, but in the midst of it, real hope as well. great stuff.


The next day it was 6 hours to Lira. Two of the guys took the bus for bit of a change and there rest of us stayed with the car. We got to Lira and into the hotel and then hung out at Hope Restoration Centre. Here we spent time with the children who were lovely, we talked with and interviewed some of the children and widows in the loan programme and then visited the small businesses of some of those on the loan programme. It was a lovely time and the team were so impressed by the great kids and the stories of the women. We sang, and danced, and cried and laughed, we read books and played football and prayed and read many school books. It was very hard to say goodbye to these Visible Children. Once they were being forced to march with Joseph Kony and his gang. They saw things as children that no one should ever have to see and experienced extremes of torture and abuse that are almost impossible to imagine.


I stepped into the Invisible children / Joseph Kony thing last week in my blog. I can’t help make a couple more comments about it from meeting many of his victims this last week. There were a number of articles in local news media denouncing the video. Much of it was from an extreme position, trying to justify the actions of government, or maybe inaction! Whatever the actual on the ground situation, there were many contributing factors in regards to how someone like him could rise and terrorise so many for so long. And it still continues. We heard stories from the children that made us weep. But in midst of it all the great faith and hope in these young people is something to behold. The other thing I was thinking is a guess a little more theological really, but it’s a challenge to me and adds to what I said last blog. These children, even the most invisible to the world, are not invisible to God. Do I understand why it happens? No! But do I know that God sees them? Yes! And he has always seen the plight of the poor and been involved in their circumstances. That’s the history of God’s actions here on earth. And, it is of course now the role of God’s people here on earth. I don’t see this as an option, but an obligation to engage with those whom God would engage with. And in that process the invisible kids become visible.


Anyway, after a couple of days there we left, early last Saturday morning and drove to Entebbe. It took 6 ½ hours, 2 of them inside Kampala as we negotiated our way around many traffic jams. That city would have to be one of the worst in the world to get around because of traffic. The team were pretty tired and emotionally wrung out after all the experiences and heart rending stories but along the way we did a lot of talking and encouraging of each other so that was great.


Saturday afternoon we flew from Entebbe to Nairobi and settled into the guesthouse we were staying at. It was great to have wireless internet again and to be able to update our friends and families. Sunday we were out again, this time to church where I had to speak and then to interview leaders and beneficiaries of another loan programme. This was different to the Uganda ones, but very viable all the same. Monday we spent with friends Robert and Rose Gitau and heard their very impressive story and their love for children. These guys have none of their own kids, but have bought up, nurtured and fostered hundreds of children. Their story is very inspiring.


Now it’s Tuesday. My nose is all stuffed up from the dust and dirt blowing in the atmosphere. We’re about to head off to the Mathare Valley. It’s a shocking place and the final part of the trip. At 1:00 I head off to the airport and the team goes about 5 hours later. It’s been a fun trip, lots of experiences for them and for me. The impact our partners are having amazes me all over again. Their integrity, compassion and perseverance are and inspiration.


Now I start thinking about Jordan, another new experience. I overnight in Dubai and early Wednesday morning fly there. Look forward to sharing some of the experiences from there a little later on. But for now, I’m visualising the children and trying to see them the way God does.


Helen is pretty busy back in NZ. For many years we’ve said we would be apart for more than 4 weeks at a time. Now I’m thinking 2 weeks or even less is a good idea!! Would love to be getting on the plane to head back to NZ, but that’s still a few sleeps away. Have to focus…..


Bless you guys
Kevin and Helen


the Promised Land

2012-04-01

Friday was interesting. First time I’ve ever been to a Biblical site, I stood on the top on Mount Nebo, the place that Moses stood thousands of years ago as he looked out over the Promised Land. He died near that place and there are many legends and stories around the location of his tomb. If he had turned up on the mountain the day I was there, he would have been sadly disappointed. We could hardly see the bottom of the mountain, let alone the Jordan River or the Dead Sea. The haze was pretty thick and I guess in his day there were many less people polluting the atmosphere. But, it was nice to be here and see what we did. I got a distant view of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Next time here I’ll go down the Dead Sea and to Petra as well. This trip was all about the people here….. oh and the food! But in this culture, food and people go together.

I think I have fallen in love again, Helen will be very sad, especially since it’s the food that I fallen for! We went to a large Middle Eastern / Lebanese restaurant, Reem al-Bawadi, for lunch afternoon and emerged 2 hours later totally stuffed and much better connected to our friends here. The food was stunning; there is no other word for it. The mezze had pickled and raw vegetables, hummus, baba Ganoush, and bread, skewered meats, flame grilled chicken and a variety of cooked and raw salads, tabouleh, fattoush, hummus and stuffed grape leaves!! That’s the ones I can remember!


After a night in Dubai on the way here, I got to Jordan with only a few hassles. The wait to get a visa and then through Immigration was pretty bad. 1 ½ hours and then my bag wasn’t where it should have been. So, after a few walks around the place I found it in an office with a security guard looking after it. The airline people were not acknowledging it was their issue, airport security was responsible for it. Anyway, because I had come from Kenya, they were suspicious about it. Then when they saw my passport with all the stamps in it from places like Uganda, Pakistan and India they were even more interested in me!!! But, to be fair, it wasn’t’ a big deal and the guys were OK about it, just doing their job!!!


Since arriving it’s been visiting people and eating, did mention eating. I’ve been talking to some very poor families struggling to bring their families up, visiting a preschool and some income generation businesses to look at potential to assist in this place. I’ve met some great young people and enjoyed their fun and youth. Also a number of young women who have no potential for employment and who are basically waiting to be married off. Not a lot of hope for them, apart from the freedom that comes from following a different prophet to the one they were born under. Such large families, such a narrow world view, such oppression, negativity, and difficulty for them. Life is tough for these people.


It’s not entirely like that for Yumi, a most lovely Christian girl who is recent refugee arrival from Iraq. Her mother was murdered a few months ago and now this 33 year old senior accountant finds herself homeless, stateless and penniless in a neighbouring country. She talks different and feels different and is waiting for someone to make a future for her. She and 7 other family members lost everything in the aftermath of her mother’s murder. Now they are dependent on others to put the next few crumbs on the table. What would you do? How would you feel? How would you talk about your God who seems to have deserted and abandoned you? When she thinks about the future, she’s knows that God will help her and that he does not abandon his children. She can’t wait to get to a safe country, hopefully America one day. But that’s in the future, for today it’s survival. As they stay in Jordan for the next few years they are not unlike Moses. This is their Mount Nebo, looking out across the future, hoping to reach a Promised Land. Moses didn’t make it to his Land, but I get the feeling that this diminutive little woman will. And the place she gets to will be the better for having her.


Today, Sunday in my last day in Jordan. 2 more sleeps and I’m back home. I have to overnight in Dubai and then there will be another one on the plane. So it’s time to pack again and hit the air. Before that I’ve got a couple more meetings and lots of thinking to do about this interesting place.
Blessings
Kevin


Easter suffering

2012-04-07

i cannot get the horror of what's happening in Syria out of my mind. I guess it's partly because this time last week I was just across the border in Jordan hearing stories of loss and death and grief. It seems inexpicable that the government on any country could do that to it's people. Bombarding women and children with huge guns and mortars. Their own people for goodness sake. I was reminded by our partners there that many of those being killed and mutilated are followers of Christ. And at this Easter time it's like Good Friday, it's a story of death and pain.

As I've been thinking about it all in the context of Easter, it's made me wonder about many of our partners and how they might celebrate Easter. It's interesting that in many dfficult countries, Easter is a really big thing. It's one of the best opportunities they have to engage their communities with the core message of their faith. God here on earth, removing the barrier between God and mankind. God, the author of life, crucified on a cross. God a suffering servant, torture, blood, pain and death. Just like Syria I guess. only this time the suffering had an obvious reason, he went through it all to bring us back to God. And so when our partners in Pakistan wish us happy Easter they are very aware that the Good News was born out of really bad news. They celebrate in a hostile environment with joy and happiness and courage.

I was challenged about that sort of courage last week as I heard the story of Yuli the young girl from Iraq. Her mother was killed a few months ago because she followed Jesus. Now Yuli will live the rest her life with a picture of her mother's mutilated body lying on their kitchen floor and yet, through it all she has hope because God does not abandon his children. That gilr understands the Easter story, she understands it in ways that few Westerners will ever understand it.

I guess one of the reasons is that they are having to confront death every day. So they understand it. They are also having to confront the injustice of it all every day as well so, the idea of resurrection becomes all they have. Those without Christ can only resort to revenge while those who understand God's plan can fall back on God's promises and know that resurrection Sunday is coming. In the midst of death resurrection becomes a desperate necessity. And because Jesus rose again, it becomes a dependable reality. Our friends there get it and Easter is not a family weekend, not a liesure holiday, or a few days off work, it has become a celebration of essential reality.

I've been home since Tuesday, only a few days, and am just about recovered from the trip. That trip from Dubai to Auckland through Melbourne seems to take forever. There are only so many movies you can watch, only so many songs to listen to, reports you can write and pages of a book you can read in 16 hours! I feel like saying 'never again!" But the next trip sees us doing it all over again!! And as for sleep, forget it! It was nice to see Helen again at the airport and spend the next few days taking it easy. The weather here has been great over easter, it's just like summer and so peaceful......... and as i write this my mind drifts back to Syria and Pakistan. It's just so easy to appreciate God and Easter and Resurrection when it's such a nice place. I wonder if would be able to appreciate it the same of it was my family being butchered and murdered.

The Good news was birthed out of death and torture and today that's where it is most appreciated and celebrated. Helen mentioned how blase we are about easter compared to our suffering friends. It has such relevance in that context.

There are a lot of things to think about and work on after this trip. The next few weeks see us:

So friends, there is a lot to work on at the moment and we value your ongoing interest and support. It's great to know that there is a team behind us. Thanks for the ongoing encouragment. We need it so much.

Love to all

Kevin and Helen

p.s. check out a few now photos


crazy - off again

2012-05-30

Heck, where have the last few weeks gone. It’s been crazy. Here we are, 2 days out from the next trip, crazy.


Since Kevin returned from Jordan just before Easter there have been a few things on the agenda. Easter was a time to rest and reflect. We had a church programme over Easter around art and craft which was a blessing to a lot of people. It was nice to hang out and catch up with some of our friends and family.


Then late April we drove to Wellington and flew to Christchurch. We had a 24 hour BHW Summit with about 80 people who are friends of Bright Hope. It was fantastic to catch up with our key stakeholders and tell a lot of stories about our partners and drink a lot of coffee. I was reminded again about the fantastic partners we have, giving it all up out there in hard places. We had a board meeting and a lot of other strategic discussions. Such an awesome team back here as well, doing great things to extend the Kingdom of God.


So after a week around Christchurch it was back to Wellington, Levin and Palmerston North and Masterton and the Hawkes Bay. There were heaps of meetings, lots of great conversations and awesome people to meet; we got back pretty tired to be fair. After a couple more weeks Rob Purdue came north and we continued to meet great people and drink lots of coffee. Just got back from a conference in Taupo, again, a lot of good people to network with and a sense that there are a lot of people here wondering about how to engage with what God is doing out there in the world.


It was great while Rob was here to be able to initiate two new partnerships in two new countries for us. Both of the countries are the ones we want to engage in, Madagascar and Laos. Both have huge needs, both are hard places for people who follow our God. So it’s going to be really interesting to see these develop over time. we’ll probably visit both of them next year. We are making plans for next year already. There is so much going on but our team here continues to grow with awesome, generous very relational people.


So, here we sit, 2 sleeps to go and we’re off. A brief overview is probably in order. Please remember that this is not about us and the travel. It’s all about the people we are going to meet, the people they are working with and the God they serve. Anyway, here goes.
First stop Sydney for a night and a day with the leader of a group of around 200 churches in Australia we are partnering with. It will be great to spend some time with Ross.


Then it’s up to Thailand. On Monday morning we’ll meet our team from New Zealand at Bangkok airport and head north to Chiang Mai. We’re going to a village many hours into the bush to develop a water and sanitation project. The rains have started so it’s going to be a very long drive to the location. I also meet Mark Stokes our BHW Thailand team leader there. We spend 4 days in the bush with the team and then leave them on their own.


While I’m up in the bush, Helen will be in Cambodia visiting some of our friends there to encourage them and see what they are up to. So a tornado warning is issued for Phnom Penh for next week. Helen and the 2 Sues will no doubt be laughing a lot, poor Graham Taylor!


Then we meet again in Bangkok and head off to Zambia, overnighting in Dubai on the way through. Lots of stuff to do in Zambia, talks about the future, a conference with all the BHW partners and working with our team leaders there. Jerry and Hayley are returning to New Zealand in August so there is a lot to process with that change. Then after a week Sara our daughter and her husband Karl fly in to hang out with us for 2 ½ weeks. That will be great fun and a real privilege to hang out with them with our partners.


Then it’s on to Kenya and Uganda with Sara and Karl. We’ll do a sweep past most of our partners in these two countries to get a feel for what they are doing and get an update on progress. Sara and Karl leave us in Uganda and we then head off to Ethiopia.


We’ve got a really interesting part of the world to visit then. Right out on the Nile River on the border with Sudan live the Gumuz people. A number of our partners are working there and amazing things are happening. Whole communities of these people are being made landless , the forests cut down and sold off to foreigners who have only one God, money. There our partners are working with these people to help them deal with their situation. It’s a case of corrupt officials, unjust laws, greedy individuals and amoral governments. But in the midst of, God is at work.


We then get a few days break before a team arrives from the USA. It will be great to have Jeff Jones, John Stanley and the Chase Oaks guys there again from Dallas. Another chapter of the journey begins with them. Worku, our Ethiopia team leader is currently in the process of building a school and it will be great to see the progress after many years of frustration.


Then it’s back to Kenya with the team and another large group joins us. We’ll spend almost a week with one of our partners working alongside them just outside Nairobi. This will see us painting, concreting and talking to lots of kids and young people. So that will be fun and we’ll be the team leaders and cooks for the week for 13 people plus us! Should be a laugh, thankfully I’ve been watching a few cooking programmes on TV! Not.


After most of them leave, 4 of us head back out to the West of Kenya and through to Uganda by road visiting our partners as we go. We’ve got a new opportunity to check out as well near to the Uganda border on the Kenya side. By the end of July we’ll be on our own in Uganda. Whew, it’s been pretty hectic up till now I imagine.


Last day of July Kevin will head over to Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to check out a partnership we’ve been working with for about 3 years. It will be good to meet the leaders on site and the kids and families. Helen will hang out in Jinja and Kampala for 5 days when Kevin is away.

Then it’s back to Uganda for the weekend and a break, then Burundi. First time there to check out a new opportunity. Kevin met the key people last year in France, so it will be an interesting research assignment. Hope also to meet some other people we partner with who are based in The DRC but who frequently come to Bujumbura.


By now we’ll be ready for home I imagine but on the way it’s a week stopover in Pakistan. We have such awesome partners there it would be hard not to go and see them again. It would be hard to find people who are more hospitable, though as I think about it, one of the characteristics of all our partners is their generous hospitality. So we’ll meet people learning to read, to sew and a company BHW has invested in that makes clothing. Might score a pair of jeans!


We are scheduled to arrive back in New Zealand around the 18th August. It’s a Saturday so don’t call us till after the weekend!

anyway..... buckle up we're off. stay well and follow along.

bigkev and nell (although bigkev is much smaller now!)


Litchis and leeches

2012-06-08

Hey there. Greetings from Chiang Mai in Thailand from Kevin and from Helen in Bangkok. Helen has just arrived there from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She is going to write the next blog all about it. We’re looking forward to catching up again later today, that’s Friday.

She flew into Bangkok yesterday and spends 24 hours there before we meet again at the airport later today for a flight to Dubai (overnight stay) and then on to Zambia on Sunday.

The last few days have been interesting. We left on Saturday and overnighted in Sydney with the Bunyons, people we have met through Bright Hope World. They are a lovely couple who opened their home to us, we really enjoyed their company. It was wet and miserable in Sydney that day. We went to church with them, they go to a church we had done quite a lot of work with back in the 90s. So it was great to meet a lot of people we had done some stuff with in the past.

Sunday evening it was off to the airport and the flight to Bangkok. Only 9 ½ hours so not too bad. Watched a movie and then slept for 5 hours. Awesome. I was talking to Mark Stokes this morning and said I couldn’t remember the flight and now I remember why, I was asleep for most of it! Got into the hotel at 2:30 in the morning and then left Helen there and was back to the airport at 6:30 to meet the team from New Zealand and to fly to

Chiang Mai. No worries with the flight and we were met by the ITDP (Integrated Tribal Development Programme) people. It was off to the office for orientation and a quick repack of the bags so we didn’t need to take everything off the vehicle that night. Then it was off to a local restaurant for lunch and a pretty hot meal. Around 2:00 pm we piled into the vehicles and the 11 us us plus the local guys set off for the bush in 3 x 4WD vehicles.
We pulled into the “resort” at Om Koi about 3 ½ hours later. Those of us in the back were pretty stiff so it was good to get horizontal that night. Despite the soreness, the snoring and the cicadas buzzing like chainsaws, I slept well. We spent time talking through the experiences up till now. Mark Stokes, our BHW Thailand team leader had been with the team for 3 days by this time and had been showing them around Bangkok.

Woke up early and off to the local restaurant for breakfast around 7:00, soup with pork balls. Mmmmm. Throw in a bit of chili paste and fish sauce, what else would you want? Then it was walk around the town time while a minor issue was being sorted out in one of the trucks. And back on board. Around 90 minutes later we came to the end of the good road and straight into the rough stuff.

The guys were really excited to be into some of the roughest roads you could ever imagine. Seriously rough and dangerous it was. At time we had to get our while the vehicles squeezed around corners with one wheel precariously balanced near the edge. The rains have come early so the road was pretty bad. We bumped along some of it but otherwise it was like being thrown around inside a tumble drier. We had a couple of stops, one for lunch and around 4 hours of rough stuff later we ended up in the village we were going to work in, Kraw Lor Ber. It’s a village of around 160 people, many of them children. It’s a poor village. No running water and not one toilet!!! No even one so one doesn’t need much imagination to realise the situation there and the potential for disease and illness. There is a little church there and we were there to work alongside them to bless their community.

The plan is to put in a water pipe from a water source about 500 metres up the hill into a 14,000 litre water tanm. We had temporary water going with 3 hours of arriving. Then the team will put in a water filter, pipes taps and bathrooms. Along the way the plan is to make friends and enjoy the opportunity to engage with people from another culture. Life here could hardly be more different from New Zealand, maybe more like rural life there 100 years ago, apart from the cell phones and solar cells.

So, we laid out pipe, dug trenches, mixed concrete, tied reinforcing steel and played volleyball. All in the first day! Unfortunately Mike Mann, out main Man here in Thailand had to leave the team early and Mark Stokes and I had to come out with him. This was planned for a day later, but it was important for Mike to come out.

The team is made up of Mark Stokes and I and 4 guys from St Andrews church in Waipukurau and 3 guys and two girls from CBC church in Hamilton. Two of the guys were on the team to Thailand earlier in the year. They are all great. We had a lot of fun for the first few days. They have a great attitude in terms of serving the local people, a learning attitude and are really good at working alongside the locals. The villagers are very friendly and expressed on the second night that they wished we could speak the same language. Nice, but kind of sad as well.

On the afternoon of the second day there, Mark and I went with Mike to check out some other villages in the area that need some help and partnership. Over the next few years there will be quite a bit to do here to come alongside these communities, more water, sanitation and education. It’s such a pity to see so many uneducated people. None of the kids could speak Thai. This makes them vulnerable to poverty and abuse. Not one person in the church can read their own language or Thai, so that makes Christian faith very difficult to maintain. There is a lot to think about in terms of the way forward here. But we have such amazing partners in New Zealand willing to go the distance. It’s very cool to see the first tap in the village turned on!! The surprise, laughter and fascination are funny to watch.

The local pastor is such a nice guy, really hard working and with the people there. We had a lot of fun in the short time we were there. There was a lot of fruit around, especially mangoes and litchis, mmmmm, great stuff. Though it’s not supposed to be raining the rains have come early making everything a little more difficult. It’s also bought out leeches. Mark had 6 or 7 leeches on his feet the first day and I found one on my gumboot and another just going north of my navel on day 2. Fortunately none of them had the time to attach themselves to us. Funny little things…

So, Thursday we said goodbye to the village around 6:45 am and around 2:00 pm got back to Chiang Mai. It was much quicker with the lighter vehicle and drier road. It’s great to be able to spend a couple of days with Mark making plans and developing some strategy. Really enjoy his company and am learning a great deal from him. He is looking forward to getting back to Emma and the two boys. Three weeks away is a big sacrifice to make and I don’t take that sort of commitment lightly. It reminds me that every one of our Bright Hope World team is amazing and very important in terms of what God is doing in the world. I am in awe of the ability our team members have to understand and process what is going on and to relate to people. It’s very exciting to be on the team with them and to participate in their life journey.

So, now it’s about 12 hours till I fly out of here and meet up with Helen. Quite a bit more talking to do as well before then as we strategize about being more effective.

I spent some time to day skyping Hugo our grandson. He’s such a funny little guy. I had sent him a few pictures of me on the back of the vehicle and working in the village. He had all sorts of questions about who was driving the vehicle. Then I told him that we saw some buffaloes. So he thought it was a gruffalo so had to send him a picture of a buffalo…. Such a great little guy. Missing him and the rest of the family as well. That there worst part of this thing, time away from home and family.
Lots of love
Helen and Kevin
70 days to go.


Helen reporting from Zambia

2012-06-14

While Kev was in Chiang Mai I flew to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.It was great to be met at the airport by my “old” friends Sue Hanna and Sue Taylor. Its always great to spend time with them and Graham.

Sue and Sue work for Hagar which is and international Christian organisation dedicated to the protection, recovery and community integration of survivors of human rights abuse, particularly human trafficking, gender-based violence and sexual exploitation. While Cambodia is now at peace, extreme poverty, food insecurity, limited access to health and education services, low levels of literacy, lack of employment opportunities and entrenched cultural and societal norms continue to contribute to an environment where women and children can be trafficked, abused, exploited and abandoned.
Currently Hagar operates recovery shelters, education and empowerment programs, reintegration services and a social business.

I spent my days going to the office with them leaving home at 7.15 and home again by 6pm. I heard stories about many of the horrific situations kids and women had been rescued from. My two lovely friends work alongside a team of amazing people dedicated to lovingly help these victims recover.

It was very hot there with temperatures in the mid-thirties……

Some days I used the local taxi services otherwise known as a “tuk tuK”.You get a close up look at local life as you weave in and out of the traffic and inhale some of the overwhelming smells from rotting rubbish dumped on the sides of the road. Lots of local people wear face masks and now I know why!! I was reminded again how fortunate we are in New Zealand living in such a beautiful country and such a blessed lifestyle. 

Kev and I met up again at Bangkok airport on Sunday, repacked our suitcases and then flew to Dubai……Had a complementary Hotel and a four hour rest on a bed and then back to the airport to get our next flight to Zambia.

Now we are in Kabwe and its great to be with Jerry and Hayley Field and their two girls Sophie and Lucy . In a few days Rob Pudue arrives here for meetings, then next week we are looking forward to a 3 day conference with our Bright Hope World partners in from Zambia and Zimbabwe. In a few days our daughter Sara and her husband Karl arrive here. it's going to be fun travelling with them for a couple of weeks. It's 30 yrs since we arrived in Zambia the very first time. incredible, where did that time go!

We just heard a few days ago that one of our early friends in Zambia, Evaristo Kutontonkanya passed away. He came onto the team of the training place we started way back then after we left Zambia. He had a real passion for people, I remember the day he graduated from the theological college of central africa. He was so proud of his achievement and so excited, he hugged my like he was going to squeeze the breath out of me.

Jerry and Hayley expect to return to NZ in a couple of months. We're working through all the Zambia partnerships with them at the moment. They expect to stay involved with Bright Hope overseeing the development of the partnerships in Zambia, so that's great. They have made a fantastic contribution to the partners here. The conference next week will be a sad time for many with them leaving. They are really loved and appreciated by our partners and have helped many of them become more capable of sustaining themselves.

It's pretty cold here in Zambia, only 17 degrees today. The houses are built to stay cool in the heat, which means they stay really cold in the cool season. Helen is running around all togged up and borrowing clothes from anyone who will give her some!!

anyway friends, love and best regards

Helen and Kevin 


light

2012-06-21

There is a huge jacaranda tree just outside the window of the flat we are staying in. the early morning sun is streaming into the room and the early morning light makes everything look very beautiful. The last few days have seen some amazing sunsets here in Zambia, every time I come here I am amazed at the beauty of African sunrises and sunsets. That beautiful, low, golden light in the evenings makes everything seem surreal and glowing.

Actually, when the sun goes down it’s pretty cold to be fair. It’s winter, not cold like New Zealand, but cold enough when you’re out of the sun. It’s been cool out at the conference centre where we’ve been meeting the last few days with about 40 of our partners from around Zambia and into Zimbabwe. But it’s been very warm as well, warm as we have spent time with our friends here. 

You know, August this year it will be 30 years since we first came to Zambia. I cannot believe how young and naïve we must have been as I think about it. I’ll put up a photo of us when we were here in Zambia. It’s not 30 years, more like 25, but still…….. pretty naïve. Some of the people we spent the last few days with were part of that early journey and to see them now, my goodness. Let me tell you about some of them:

So it’s been pretty inspiring to hear all the stories and get alongside them. They just love telling their stories, laughing and doing skits. It’s pretty hilarious at times.

Last weekend, before the camp started we had a board meeting for Bright Hope Zambia, the company that owns the farm here. I’m the chairman so we have to go through the formalities and hear lots of reports about what’s been going on. We have made some really interesting decisions about the future of the farm that will see us making a lot of changes here. It’s going to be good with less responsibility for us from New Zealand but some good outcomes in terms of reducing our risk and generating even better profits to go into helping people. One figure from the farm, this year since January, the farm has put around 168,000,000 Zambian Kwacha into helping our partners. That equates to around $US32,000 or $NZ40,000. So that’s pretty exciting to be part of. But we have to constantly be assessing the nest way forward and making adjustments. 

Today we’re pretty excited as Sara and Karl, our daughter and son-in-law are arriving here in Kabwe. They got to Zambia on Monday and have been in Livingstone to visit the Victoria Falls. Today they come here and for the next two weeks will be travelling with us to visit our partners in Zambia, Kenya and Uganda. It’s going to be a blast, I hope we can keep up with them. I’m sure there will be plenty of incidents to report next blog.

I have to say that I’m pretty impressed by a couple of outfits, 3 actually. Just after arriving here in Zambia I realised that is was going to be in trouble as I didn’t have enough pages in my passport. This is the same passport I lost and found in India last year. Every country here requires a full page plus for a visa and we have to go through Kenya and Uganda 3 times each on this trip. So, I sent all the papers for a new one by DHL back to New Zealand, 3 working days they said, 3 working days it was. Big ups to DHL. Then I asked if I could keep both passports valid as I have visas in the current passport that I require on this trip. The NZ Department of Internal Affairs allowed this and issued the new passport in 2 days. It’s great to be a NZer! And then number 3, Heather McLennan, office manager at Bright Hope World. That woman is a star. My goodness, she made it all happen. So, Heather, I owe you coffee, chocolate and a whole heap more next time I’m in Christchurch. A team of 9 people are coming from New Zealand to Zambia, arriving on Sunday and they are bringing the new passport. Amazing.

Well, that’s enough from us for now except to say that we are thinking of our friends the Lamble family today. Mrs Lamble died earlier in the week and is being buried today. Their family and ours go way back and she was a lovely woman. When those old ones you’ve known all your life depart, it somehow tears something from the fabric of your own life and makes it more fragile. So, we’re thinking of Justin and Rae and the family today. Next meeting is about to start so I’ll be off.

Love to you all and thanks for hanging in there with us.
Kevin and Helen
p.s. check out the new photos


passports and visas

2012-07-02

Hey there everyone from Kenya. Habari. It’s cool here in Kenya, this morning started bright and sunny but the clouds are closing in and it looks like rain. It’s cooling down. People are surprised by how cool it gets here expecting Kenya to be hot.

Anyway, we got to Kenya fine on Monday. A team from New Zealand flew into Zambia on Sunday to work with one of our partners. So we met them in Lusaka. They arrived minus one bag, but fortunately for Kevin, the guy who lost the bag still had Kevin’s new passport. Yeha, he can come home now!!! So now at least Kevin should be able to get the visa required for the rest of the trip. It’s a real pain having to put your passport into an embassy for a week to get a visa when we are moving around so much. Today is Friday as we are actually in Uganda. Earlier Kevin had to put his passport into the Congo Embassy for 7 days to get a visa. If it’s a day late then we’re in trouble and won’t be able to leave the country. So, having two passports at the moment is a real bonus.

It’s great to be travelling with Karl and Sara, they are real easy to travel with. We had a nice time with Robert and Rose Gitau in Tala, Kenya. Sara was with them for a few weeks about 8 years ago. So, they were rapt to meet her husband. Karl is so good getting down with the kids and spent a lot of time playing soccer and interviewing them.

We had 3 nights at their place and then on Friday morning we headed into Nairobi and hung out with our partners in the Mathare Valley. They are such a great bunch of people. I’ve talked about this place before. But it’s still a pretty incredible place. Personally it seems to be less shocking now, maybe because I’ve been there so often. It was pretty cool to meet some of the young people teaching there who grew up in that place and who have now come back to make a difference. Pretty impressive really. If I managed to escape that place I doubt if I could go back and invest in the place. It’s certainly more than a normal response, more like a divine response probably.

We spent last night at a guest house in Nairobi and early this morning cruised out to the airport for a flight to Entebbe and Kampala. Then we spent the day organising stuff for later in the trip and for the next trip here in October. Things take time here but we got a lot done.

We have a team coming in to Kenya in about 3 weeks from the USA so we were organising stuff for that. Also, getting into the Congo isn’t that easy there are no shortcuts. But, to be fair, they explained the process pretty clearly so that’s good. Then in October we have an International Summit here in Uganda and we’ve been setting up stuff for that. Finding accommodation and transport are the two biggest issues to deal with. But we’ve found some good options.

It’s getting late now and we’re about to hit the sack. Tomorrow we head north to Lira to visit some of those invisible children, victims of the LRA and their terror regime a few years ago. So it’s going to be an interesting few days. I’ll sign off for a day or so then finish this and send it out later.

Where did that time get to. We’re now back in Kampala after a good time with our friends there. It was great to spend time with the large family. 27 kids, though of course they weren’t all there. Some are away at secondary school and other training. But, it was lovely to share with them and see the growth and development of the children. Penninah and Anna were there as well and it was good to spend time encouraging them. They spent a couple of hours one morning telling us the story of their family. My goodness, it would not be believed if it were written as non-fiction and it would be too unbelievable to be a novel! It’s such an amazing story of tragedy and trauma. But it’s also about strength and recovery, solid faith, staunch courage and real commitment to make life better for the next generation.

So here we are, back in one piece in this chaotic city. Tomorrow we head out onto Lake Victoria to visit more partners and then on Wednesday Karl and Sara head back to New Zealand. We’re going to miss them, it’s been great.

We’ll be in touch next from Ethiopia most likely. By then I’ll know if I’ve got the visa for the Congo and if we will be able to fulfil our full itinerary. If we can’t get to Congo, we’ve got a backup plan in the south of Uganda. So, stay cool and God bless,

I’ll put up a few pictures with this as well so enjoy
Kevin and Helen


Gumuz country

2012-07-09

Ha, I thought last week went crazy fast, this one has completely got away from us. So much seems to have happened, it’ all a jumble. But we’ll try to unpack it a little.

Last blog we had just returned from Lira in the North of Uganda and were sitting in a nice café in Kampala reporting to you…. This time it’s not in any great city. I’m on the veranda of the once proud Ghion Hotel in Bahir Dar on the banks of Lake Tana. The local Coptic Church is in full swing punishing the eardrums of the faithful over the loud speaker system. They burble on in an ancient language only a few of the priest know but they turn up in droves and go through their rituals. Oooops, it’s dusk and the Moslems have started up across the road, louder than the Copts, in a few minutes a bunch of the faithful will trudge into that place and do their rituals. One wonders at the nonsense and noise of it all. The lake is pretty calm this afternoon, there is the gentle hum of people talking and the last birds are chirping their way into the darkness. It’s quite pleasant actually, apart from those blaring loudspeakers in the background.

Yay, they have stopped, about time. The first one started up before 5 a.m. this morning and he wasn’t popular then either. The mozzies are coming out for their evening feed now so I’ll shoot inside and cover up.

Anyway, enough of that, the last week. Mmmm, Tuesday we headed out to the shores of Lake Victoria to visit a community we have been working with for 10 years. The school there has grown a lot since our first visit in 2002. There are now almost 500 kids in the programme, a hostel with 178 children and another school down the road with about 70 kids. It was great to see a lot of the kids in school and to be there to open a laboratory for the secondary school. A church in New Zealand funded the fit out and the school very proudly opened the refurbished building and all the equipment. Now their challenge will be to maintain it all and increase the number of children passing exams. They already have a good pass record and were saying, “if we could do OK without a laboratory, imagine what will happen now.” The optimism of youth, love it.

Then it was back to our residence, the amazing City Annex Hotel. When Sara first saw it she exclaimed, how did you find this place! We are still wondering the same thing! We were used to it, but its pretty basic when we think about it. Anyway, we spent the night there and the next morning at the Java café saying goodbye to Karl and Sara. Then out to Entebbe, us to a different hotel and Sara and Karl to the airport and back to Dubai and New Zealand.

It was pretty sad to say good bye to them. It was lovely to see our world through their eyes and to meet our friends all over again through them. They were so good at relating to our partners, especially playing with the many kids they met. They got back to NZ pretty shattered with Karl suffering all the way with diarrhoea. Sara thought she was pretty smart not getting it, until she got home!! It reminded us how fortunate we are with that problem and rarely suffer from it. If you saw some of the recent pit stops we have made, you don’t take it for granted!! 

We had a couple of nights at the hotel in Entebbe and on Thursday headed back into town to get my Congo visa. No problems really either, well done those guys. Paid for the flight to Bunia and in 3 weeks today will be in the Congo, I hope, there are many things still that could go wrong.

Friday it was on the plane again, had to get up at 2:30 am to catch the first flight to Nairobi and the second to Addis Ababa and by 9:30 we were there. Cold, really cold and wet. But Worku was there and we headed off to the Semien Hotel. That day we basically hung out, catching up with Worku and hearing all the stuff he is working on. We caught up with e-mails and were reintroduced to Injera.

Out of bed early again on Saturday and another flight to Bahir Dar, 40 minutes North of Addis Ababa. We arrived to the worst airport terminal in the world. The baggage was collected in a barn, the toilets were ankle deep in water and other stuff which we had to use !! And we had to walk with a defective trolley for about 200 metres through water and mud. No use complaining, they are trying build a new terminal. Then it was into the 4WD vehicle we were going to use for our trip to visit some of our church planting friends. We arrived at the Ghion Hotel and had breakfast, jumped back into the vehicle and hit the road….well sort of. It took about ½ an hour to fill up with gas and then 15 minutes later the clutch was gone…. Kaput. The next couple of hours were spent entertaining a bunch of about 15 kids and cattle herders and about 50 people who walked past on the road. Then it was back into town, another refill of gas and off we went again, a much better vehicle and a much, much better driver.

The next 5 hours we drove through spectacular country. It’s the rainy season so it’s green as. But you can literally see the topsoil flowing into teh rivers. Half of Ethiopia lives on the main road and most of the animals in Ethiopia live on the same road. Saturday is market day in rural Ethiopia so the towns were packed with people and animals. Amazing sights we saw. I dont kn ow how the driver missed the animals, he must think like one I think!

We got to Gilgel Beles, the last 3 hours on pretty rough roads. If the earlier hotels were a bit rough, this was a bit rougher. No water, no power, but I hear they are over-rated. Saturday evening we met with a bunch of very nice people in the church there. We were there to observe what God is doing amongst the Gumuz people. 5 years ago we m ay have been killed had we gone there. Every man had to prove himself by killing another person. The women are virtually slaves, most are married by 14 years of age, many to much older men. Many still wear no clothes and these hunter gatherers are being herded into towns and their land given to corporate farmers and politicians.

Here we observed the most underdeveloped people we have ever seen. Most have never seen a white person, certainly none have ever talked to one or touched on. The kids were totally freaked by us and ran away, many of them screaming. The dirt and disease was very evident in the kids and adults. It was a very strange place to be. On the Sunday morning we drove to a little village where something remarkable happened about 9 months ago. A young boy, about 7 years old I guess, died. He lay in the house for some hours and then the parents carried him to a Christian man who lived in the village we were visiting. He was laid in front of the house dead. The man prayed for him and 15 minutes later he was up and about again like nothing was ever wrong!

The people were amazed and asked what had happened. The parents told the story and they asked about the man and his gods. They were told about the God of the Bible and in the last 9 months hundreds of people have become followers of Jesus. The day the miracle happened more than 200 people became Christ followers. The changes have been dramatic, especially for the women. The Christian men now help at home. They now will only marry one wife. They have stopped beating the women and children. Their mindsets are changing. There were close to 300 in the church that day in a village that did not have one believer just 9 months previously. We heard story after story with photos of miraculous healing apart from the original one. Truly amazing things God is doing.

We met the parents of the boy and the pastor who prayed for him and heard their stories. The boy lay dead for 13 hours and now he’s entirely normal. Mind you, he was freaked out meeting us and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he was dead again from shock!

Sunday afternoon we came back to Bahir Dar, this time through heavy rain and hail. We spent the night at the Ghion and met a number of other Ethiopian young people and this morning, Monday, we spent a few hours writing up a report for the team that arrives later in the week from the USA.

We’re going to spend the next 3 days resting up, then Thursday we catch a minibus to Gonder a couple of hours from here. Friday the team arrives from Dallas and we’re into the busiest time of the trip. 4 days here, a week back in Nairobi and then 5 days travelling across Uganda again.

So, it’s rest time, we’re half way through the trip, today is day 37 of 77 I think.

We’re both keeping well though we notice two days on rough roads takes it out of us more than it did a few years ago. It’s been great to have better internet coverage now all through the journey. It makes the distance from family seem much less. It’s been great to be able to send and receive photos and chat from time to time.

It’s really hard to write up all the stuff we see and experience. Every day is just so different. But, we came away from the meeting with Gumuz Christians with warm hearts. It was very obvious that God is seriously at work in that place. And you cannot come away the same person when you’re been at a place where God is actively at work.

Thanks for making it possible by you interest and prayer. We take nothing for granted in places like this. Health, safety, the fact that I wasn’t born a Gumuz! It’s just amazing what could happen…..

So thanks, and many blessings 

Helen and Kevin 

p.s. check out the photos?


a short break

2012-07-13

Just a short little note before we have a really busy time. It’s Friday and in a few minutes the first of our team from the USA arrive here in Gonder. I’m sure it’s going to be a great time with them. They arrive in two batches, the first 3 arrive today and then on Monday we meet another 10 in Nairobi, Kenya.

So we are now in Gonder, a large University town in the North. It boasts the ruins of a large castle, you would swear you were in Europe in the Middle Ages. Not sure we’ll get too much time to visit that, but one of the guys hasn’t been here before so we’ll try to get him a look at it.

Just before we left the backpackers the local English speaking TV guys came doing so interviews for the English speaking TV channel. Seeing we’re from so far away we were interviewed. Who knows if it will ever go to air! Helen now thinks she’s a TV star and I’ve got my work cut out keeping her feet on the ground! Joke Helen…. ouch!

After getting Helen’s feet back on the ground we set off from Bahir Dar to Gonder in a local mini bus. What a laugh it was, 4 hours of a laugh. We had a nice break in Bahir Dar, it’s a really quiet hotel with not much going on so we just slept and read and caught up on e-mails and reports. We also found a couple of nice places to eat. Then the bus arrived to pick us up and we headed off to Gonder. It’s beautiful country and we were well entertained by the guys on the bus. We booked 3 seats so we could have our luggage inside and not on the roof. It’s the rainy season and it’s no fun getting all your luggage wet. Anyway, on we got after they said luggage couldn’t go inside; I put it inside which kind of got us offside from the start. You see, there are 15 seats, and on the outside of the bus it says, no more than 15 passengers. The trouble with bags in a seat is that they take up the whole seat and you can’t fit 2 people to a seat when one of the people is a bunch of bags. So, after a good deal of arguing and threatening I agreed to pay for 3 ½ seats, it was worth it we realised when in the middle of a huge downpour!

Anyway, off we went, for about 500 metres and we trolled around town finding people to fill the bus up. It looked pretty full when we got in, but 15 minutes later we were off, well sort of. Every time we saw people on the side of the road we either crammed them into the bus or stopped, jumped out and bought something from them. At the very least the conductor shouted loudly at them!

After paying it was all sweet and we were the best of friends. You learn here that the bargaining process is essential for establishing relationships, hearing about your heritage and getting a rank on the pecking order. We obviously did OK cause we were best of friends with the whole bus and we talked all the way to Gonder. At one stage we had 21 people in the bus, not including chickens. We stopped innumerable times for drinks and chat, the local weed. Most people are chewing it; it’s gives a bit of a high from what I’m told. It also makes them chatty and we talked about New Zealand, they think it is in Europe near to Scandanavia, about farming and they were envious that even though I stopped farming in 30 years ago we had tractors back then, about the world and our friend with us was able to share about Jesus as well. It was fun even though it took 4 hours.

They delivered us to the door of the hotel in Gonder and now we are sitting on the balcony overlooking the piazza in the middle of the city waiting for the team to arrive. Oh sipping a macchiato as well by the way. They make splendid coffees for about 25 cents - mmmm, heaven for some people. 

This next week we’ll be: 

Somewhere in there we will try to write another blog, we’ll try to update the painting or something! We’ll be missing the Olympics which is a pain though I guess we’ll get the athletics while in Kenya!

We’re keeping well despite the crazy trips and drivers, the strange food and the cold and wet at the moment. Thanks for hanging in there with us.
Love to you all
Helen and Kevin


opportunities galore

2012-07-22

Hey everyone, not a long story this time. It’s Sunday evening and we’re about to head off for dinner. We’ve just finished a debrief with the team from the USA and everyone seems to have had a pretty positive experience. So that’s a major positive.

14 of us have been staying 1 hour outside Nairobi with our friends the Gitaus. They have a lot of stuff going on in their world, schools, vulnerable kids, fractured families and many, many poor people on their doorstep. They counsel, preach, treat the sick, pray for people, grow gardens, schools, churches and people. Frankly I have no idea how they manage it! But we were there for 4 days painting school classrooms . We managed to get 3 done and leave enough paint for another one. So that was great. The rooms look awesome, well done team! The kids and teachers are really excited and we hope they will care for their bright new workplaces.

We were able to find a nice place in the town to stay in with good food. So it all worked out pretty well really. The team was largely made up of an extended family from Alabama in the USA and we’ve had to learn a whole new language and accent! But a really nice bunch of people.

We survived our time in Ethiopia with the team and are glad to be heading off to warmer place from tomorrow. While in Ethiopia we spent time working on the start of a school, visiting a bunch of blind kids who are being sponsored, meeting a whole bunch of widows who are desperately poor and are being fed every day and hearing stories of transformation. We love to see what happens when people give themselves to following Jesus and sharing their lives with others. Story after story was told about life change.

Yesterday, on our way back to Nairobi we stopped over in the Mathare Valley for a visit to our friends there. I am always totally inspired by their long term commitment to a most vulnerable group of people. Like Robert and Rose in Tala, I don’t know how they have the faith to pull this off. Feeding and schooling 1,600 kids every day is no small task. But every day they turn up in the Mathare Valley with hope, patience, tenacity and bucket loads of grace and mercy. They are like dispensers of grace to people who have less than nothing. They choose to go into the pits of poverty to rescue the hopeless and I am inspired to know them and walk with them on their journey, even if only for a few hours.
So here we sit in the cool of Nairobi.

Over the last few days we also met a few other partners with new opportunities to develop. let me give you a taste of what they bring to us:

Awesome oppoprtunities and lots of decisions!!! whwn will we find the time for that?

Tomorrow it’s off to Kisumu at 4:30 a.m. a busy day we’ll have visiting our partners out there. I’ll tell you more next blog. Then on Tuesday it’s off to Uganda and a border crossing for a couple of nights in Busia visiting our partners there. The intrepid John Stanley and Collin Jones will be with us for the next week as we journey across Uganda stopping to visit partners and make arrangements for another visit later in the year.
The bus will be here to take us out in a few minutes so I’ll sign off. Next time you hear from us we’ll be in Uganda and hopefully Kevin will have more than one pair of shoes. Down to one pair of sandals and he can’t find a pair of 13 anywhere in Kenya!!! 

Love and blessings

Kevin and Helen


Lust

2012-07-28

We got to the airport in Nairobi in time and headed off to Kisumu early on Monday morning. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to the team we had spent a week with. But, life moves on and the 3:30 call of the electronic rooster was not appreciated. But, the four of us continuing the journey shuffled onto the bus and slept the 30 minute trip to the airport. There we met the other two Kenyan guys, though one of them only got there with minutes to spare.

Kisumu, is on Lake Victoria, wet and warm, new airport terminal. Nice, I was not looking forward to the old airport and picking up the bags from the outdoor arrival area. We would have been soaked! Then, off to St Anna’s guesthouse, check in and breakfast. Onto the minibus again and out to Maseno, 45 minutes into the beautiful, green Kenyan countryside. Out here our partners are caring for a bunch of 20 children in a small hostel. It’s not an ideal scenario, but slowly it’s coming right. Our friends inherited this place when an Irish guy gave it to them. But, it’s not sustainable and we’ve been working with them over the last few years to try and make that happen. We spent the day talking through the strategies, looking at farmland and gardens and making plans, lots of plans. There are some really positive changes emerging here that we’ll be working on over the next few months. Developing sustainable partnerships takes a lot of time, vision and strategizing. These partnerships are fragile. We funded the purchase of 200 laying chickens earlier in the year and a few weeks ago they were due for Newcastle disease inoculation. So, they were dosed, and then all died!!! 17 weeks of work and food all wasted. Of course, no comeback on the people who killed them. So everything is set back by half a year!! Such a disappointment for everyone. Oscar, the main man there is really annoyed. 

Kevin bought some shoes!! A few weeks ago Kevin’s trusty shoes dissolved in the mud. For a while we,ve been shopping for shoes but without success. We thought Ethiopians and Kenyans would have big feet, but no. size 10 was the largest we could find. Then, last Sunday, a pair of size 12s almost worked. Anyway, finally on Tuesday, on the side of the road we found them, size 14s, nice. But size 14 basketball boots!!! Not a lot of options so we bought them. And now, there is no room in the suitcase, though the boots are large enough to carry many kg of luggage!

Last Tuesday morning, we headed off to the Uganda border, about 2 hours from Kisumu. On the way we crossed the Equator, overheated the minibus and stopped into a village we were due to visit. There we looked at a beautiful piece of land on which to start a farm to assist vulnerable widows and children to grow gardens and learn agriculture. We have been developing a relationship with Ibrahim and Diane Omondi over a period of time and now it looks like we’ve found something to work together on. I really like this new opportunity in Got Osimbo. This village used to have the highest HIV / AIDS infection rate in Kenya. There are dozens of child headed families here that need help. So it’s pretty cool to be able to work with them.

Later that day we crossed the border into Uganda without much incident. We spent a couple of days with our friends in Busia, then to MBale for another night and some awesome people with loans, then to Jinja for 2 nights and tomorrow it’s over to Entebbe. We’ve met many poor people with a lot of hope now because of the changes that small loans have made in their families. Awesome. We’ve also been reminded again of the huge commitment our partners make at huge personal cost to themselves.

3 times in the last few days we found ourselves talking about lust!!! The first time was in Got Osimbo talking with the local people there about the fact that there were so many vulnerable families in that community. We asked why this village was so affected by HIV / AIDS. We talked through some of the reasons. One was that in these communities if a man dies, one of his brothers inherits the widow and children. So, if the wife is HIV+, the new husband then becomes HIV+. He then sleeps with his first wife and she becomes HIV+. He dies and the wives are taken off to the other brother and the scenario is repeated. Whole families are being wiped out, whole generations disappearing. We asked where this wife inheritance came from. One of our partners told us, “it comes from lust!” There is no other reason for it, there is no obligation from the culture, it’s become a way for men to have many women.

The next day, across the border in Uganda and another conversation. This time it was about micro-enterprise as we heard the stories of women having to support their families while the men just sat around to drink. The women told us time and time again of being sick and their husbands bringing many women into the home. One said something like this, the only thing the men do is to spend their money on more women. We women have to work, feed that family and send the kids to school while the men play around. Then that word came up again, lust. “It’s all because of lust.”

Whether we like it or not, men are the cause of most of the grief in Africa. Most of the poverty in Africa is produced by the dumb actions of stupid men who are full of lust. And women and children are the victims, generation after generation of women and children have perished because of men and their unbridled lust.

Later that night we talked about these two lust conversations. As Helen, John, Collin and I chatted into the evening we realised that this is not merely an African problem. We lamented at the sexualisation of our Western cultures as well, how that it’s hard to go an hour without being confronted by pornography, how hard it is for young people to stay pure and how easy it is to access sexual material. We went to bed that night, I guess more than a little unsure of whether what we were doing actually made much difference. We face incredibly difficult challenges. Many of the people we meet in Africa who are here to help are actually part of the problem. African and Western cultures are no help in addressing the issues that plague this continent and when you add into the mix the issues of corruption, poverty and mind sets that produce death, one wonders if it’s worth it…….. One wonders often…… it would be easier, much easier to just walk away and leave it to someone else.

Tomorrow, Sunday we head off early to the village of Katosi. Kevin has to preach in the church, we need to get some more video around the area and deliver our two USA friends, John and Collin to the airport. So it will be a long day. Then Monday Kevin heads off to the Congo for 4 nights while Helen stays in Entebbe by herself. Value your prayers for all this that we’ll be safe and learn a lot. More when Kevin gets back from The Congo in a week
Blessings
Helen and Kevin


choas

2012-08-03

It’s only a couple of weeks now till we get back to New Zealand. To be frank, it would be nice to be going home about now, but, another 2 weeks to complete this tour of duty. A couple of years ago we did a 14 week trip and I don’t know how we managed it. This 11 week trip is long enough. It’s not the people or the places or even the travel, I think it’s the constant grind and never being able to shut down. There is always another question to answer, another problem to solve or the unknown of whether or not the plans for tomorrow will come off.

Like now I’m sitting in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC for short, pondering what will happen if this thunder continues and the plane that is supposed to take me back to Entebbe, Uganda will fly into this looming thunder storm. Frankly, the chances don’t look good. Note to self: next time come in the dry season to take the weather out of the equation.

If I don’t get this flight I’m here for the weekend. Then I’ll, have to fly on Monday, and Monday we fly out to Burundi. And what if the weather is bad on Monday? If the plane doesn’t fly should I then catch a bus to Entebbe, about 15 hours? Will I get the refund for the flight I didn’t catch? How will I let Helen know? All these things start buzzing around in your head and it’s draining. I think it’s all that stuff, the nervous and emotional energy you use up when travelling every second day. Did I remember to call the guys for tomorrow? what will happen at the border? is this guy a good driver? what if a team member gets sick? should I eat this fish head (last night’s dinner?) will the rain stop? should take my umbrella? is the internet working, yes, no, yes, well sort of and then the power goes off.….. it just never stops 

I’m not complaining, I don’t have to do this job…. Or do I!

When you’re sitting in the ramshackle building this family calls home and you hear their story and you pray with them and they tell you you’re the first person who has ever prayed for them like this in their home, and 1st white person who has ever visited them….. it would be hard not to be doing this. And then you do it again, and again that day, more than 12 visits a day and you leave them with a little bit of hope that God cares for them and that they are not alone, yea, it would be hard not to be doing this.

Let me tell you about Albert and Rose, he is 83 and she is late 70s they think. Albert was an agricultural worker for the government and was posted in Bunia at the time of his retirement. He had bought a piece of land while working and we were sitting in the house he had built a few years ago. It was very basic, I cannot describe how basic really. I’ve seen worse for sure, but it is very basic. But we had chairs to sit on. (I’ve put up a couple of photos of Albert and Rose and their family.)

They told about how they had been caught up in the fighting in the 2001 – 2003 war between various rebel factions. They were moved in Internally Displaced People camps by the UN. One of their sons refused to go into the camp and some time later was killed. He had 4 children. Some time after coming out of the camp, the mother of the children came to visit them with the children and then left the kids with them. She married another man and he didn’t want the kids. So, Albert and Rose inherited them… Just like that. It’s one of the scenarios we see often here. Here those kids are called single orphans, one parent is still alive, but to all intents and purposes, they are orphans, abandoned, very, very vulnerable. They are possible more vulnerable than orphans as there are many NGOs what will have programmes for full orphans, but few have any programmes like these kids, they fall outside the box.

One of the things I love about working with BHW is that there are few boxes. If a kid is vulnerable, let’s help the little guy. He doesn’t have to have a certain tag on him we design or she doesn’t have to fit into a box we make up before we can help. Anyway, back to Albert and Rose. Here they are bringing up these children. They are too old to work and they have to send these children to school, and then to secondary school. Of course, it’s a major struggle for them and the kids are often sent home because the fees haven’t been paid.

It got so bad that the oldest boy ran away and now works in a gold mine. He fossicks around in the bush to find gold and only gets paid if he finds something. He rarely does. He works in perilous conditions and is hungry the whole time but at 15 he thinks this is a better option than the frustration of being at school and frustrated. We heard this story a number of times during the day. Albert and Rose were almost in tears as they explained their frustration at not being able to give the boy a decent future and now, their frustration that they could not bring their grandson home and save him from his current situation.
But, through our partners here we have been able to help the other kids in the family and they are going to school, and loving it.

Yesterday afternoon I visited a place that inspired me. Mozart, not the old, dead guy from Germany or wherever, has with his wife been caring for orphans for a long time. It started when they took an orphan into their home a few years ago. Then it was 2, then 3 and so it went on. Now it’s about 300, though of course they don’t all live at their place. They have built a school for these kids to come to where they disciple them and teach them. One day a new Congo will be led by these told me seriously. He said it so passionately, I have to believe him.

My goodness this country needs new leadership, that’s for sure. At every level corruption rules. It’s just so disorganised, no one knows the real story and everyone if fighting to survive. The city of Bunia is such and enigma. Huge new houses going up, swarms of Bangladeshi UN soldiers driving around in Hummers trying to look fierce, dusty roads one minute and swamps the next after the rain, thousands of motor bike taxis…. In the midst of this there are good people just trying to survive from one day to the next. And somehow it works. It fact it might work better that in some of the neighbouring countries where there is more institutional corruption.

The fact I’m sitting I’m sitting here on the porch of the hotel downloading e-mails and waiting for the rain to clear is a miracle in itself. Last Sunday we drove from Jinja to Kaotsi where Kevin spoke at a church to a couple of hundred people. Then after a beautiful lunch with our partners Timothy and Janepher and more video shots, we drove to Entebbe and dropped off the last of our US team members. John and Collin left that evening and we found a hotel on the beach for Helen to stay at while I went off to the DRC for 5 days.

Of course, a few weeks previous I had got a visa for DRC from the Embassy in Kampala. So, onto the MAF plane, a 12 seater and 90 minutes later we were on the ground in Bunia, parked between huge UN transport planes. After 3 attempts we found the office of the immigration people and the fun started. Well, I didn’t have the right visa, the Ambassador had not signed it, I had not followed the right procedure…… ha, how did I know this would happen?! This is where it works in DRC but wouldn’t in other countries. In other countries they would just say no, you’ve got the wrong one, too bad. Here it’s not like that…. well, for they payment of just another $US100 (reduced from $US150) we’ll see what we can do. 15 minutes later and hand shakes all round we left the office with a visa. It actually cost a lot less than if I had followed the correct procedure, a lot less. The Immigration guys apologised for the chaos, admitted that the procedure I should have followed was a nonsense and realised I as no threat to the countries security. I found them to be pretty good frankly and take my hat off to them that they are able to interpret the chaos.

I can leave this chaos, hopefully today.Most of our friends don’t have that luxury. Some, like George choose to come back and live here to make a difference. At the end of this year he and his family will be shifting back here from Kenya to work in a Bible College. They will continue to look after people like Albert and Rose and their grandchildren and give them a little hope in this life. But they are also committed to delivering real hope, hope that never ends and will see the chaos of countries like this being replaced by life in God’s kingdom where poverty, pain, corruption, abuse and neglect will be eradicated.

Roll on that day I say!
Love and best regards
Kevin and Helen


poverty profiles

2012-08-09

It’s damp and warm, but reasonably pleasant in Bujumbura in the country of Burundi. We got here fine from Uganda on Monday evening and our friends, Simeon and Eodie are awesome hosts. They live in a nice place, it’s pretty quiet until 6 a.m. and the local Catholic Church starts ringing bells!! What’s with that!

The last two days we’ve been visiting some loan programmes for women. There is poverty in Burundi. Let me tell you the combined stories of the two groups to give you an insight: 

Group 1 on Tuesday: this is what they own – these are the results of a discussion about what assets they have:

lady 1 - 3 pans, 2 wrap around skirts, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 hoes, 5 plastic dishes
lady 2 - Has 2 porcelain dishes, 2 plastic dishes, 3 pans, 2 bed sheets, 3 wrap around skirts, 2 shoes, 5 chickens
lady 3 - has a plot of land, 8 outfits, 4 shoes, 8 pans, a bed, a mattress, 4 bed sheets, 3 chairs, one mattress for the children and one for the visitors
lady 4 - Lives in a family house ( in-law house). Has 3 chairs, 5 porcelain dishes, 5 plastic dishes, 5 wrap around skirts, 3 shoes, one bed.
lady 5 - A widow, lives in a family house ( in-law), have 3 porcelain dishes, 2 plastic dishes, one cupboard, 2 wrap around skirts, 2 shoes, one bed, 3 bed sheets,
lady 6 - a plot of land, 3 outfits, 2 pairs of shoes, 5 pans, 1 bed, 1 mattress, 3 goats, 5 dishes, 1 hoe.
Lady 7 - 3 pans, 3 dishes, 1 sleeping mat, I do not have a bed or sheet. A widow
Lady 8 - I have one table, a few dishes, few pans, one plot which we share in the family, a cotton mattress, one bucket, 2 jerry cans. My children sleep on a mat, they do not have any bed.
Lady 9 - 1 mat, 2 bed sheets, few pans, few clothes, few shoes.
Lady 10 - a widow. I have a plot, 4 dishes in porcelain and plastic, 3 wrap around skirts, 1 pair of shoes, 2 goats, 4 pans, 2 bed sheets.
Lady 11 - a house, 2 porcelain pans, 3 plastic dishes, 5 pans, 3 wrap around skirts, 2 pairs of shoes, 1 bed, 2 bed sheets, 1 goat
Lady 12 - 1 plot of land, 1 goat, few pans, few dishes, one jerry can, 1 bucket, 2 chairs, one cotton mattress, 1 bicycle.
Lady 13 - 1 mat, 1 cloth, 1 bed sheet, few dishes, few pans, cups, 1 goat, shoes, spoons. 

If you add all that up = poverty
two woth husbands that work = poverty

Yesterday we met a group in a church on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. It’s a beautiful place, my goodness, in New Zealand the land would be worth millions of $. Here is the brief outline of the 16 women we met:

Lady 1 – a widow, 11 children, 45 years old
Lady 2 – a widow for 5 years, 8 kids, 42 years old
Lady 3 – a widow for 8 years, 6 kids and 40years old
Lady 4 – a widow for 10 years, 13 kids only 2 alive and over 60
Lady 5- a widow, 10 kids, 48 years old
Lady 6 – married, 3 kids and 27 years old
Lady 7 – single mother for 8 years, 5 kids and 40 years old
Lady 8 – married, 4 kids and 47 years old
Lady 9 – married, 7 kids and 40 years old
Lady 10 – married, 6 kids and 38 years old
Lady 11 – widow for 12 years 6 kids and 47 years old
Lady 12 – married, 3 kids and 27 years old
Lady 13 – widow for 10 years 5 kids and 44 years old
Lady 14 – widow for 9 years, 10 kids and 47 years old
Lady 15 – married with 13 kids and 48years old
Lady 16 – married with 5 kids, 30 years old.

Adding it up, 16 women with 104 children = poverty, 9 widows = poverty

Most of the women in the second group have been in a loan programme for a year. Their stories are very different from a year ago. Then it was, 1 meal a day, kids not in school, abused by the community, alone and neglected…… but now, all the family are satisfied at meal times, all the kids in school, they have dignity and a cell phone, people think they are married cause of how they look and when they find out they are widows, they even get proposals!!! A huge change. A long way to go still, but one church with compassion, a woman with a dream and a partner with some resources….

Later today we head off from Burundi to the last country on this trip. We leave at 1:25 am to Kigali, there we wait for an hour and over to Nairobi, arriving at 5:30 a.m. We then have to wait there until 2:30 p.m. Then it’s off to Abu Dhabi then catch another plane to Islamabad, Pakistan, arriving at 3:30 a.m. Why do we do this!!!

Ha, it’s all worth it, though don’t ask me at 6:00 am on Saturday morning! We’re keeping well and now looking forward to the end of the journey. This is day 68 of 77, we’re down to single digits so we’re allowed to start the countdown!

Helen has just got back from a trip to the food markets and I’ve just finished and interview with a couple of our partners from the DRC who were in the area at the same time as we were. So that was a nice bonus, to be able to spend a couple of hours with them. First time we’ve met, lovely guys doing the hard yards in Bukavu and Uvira in the Congo.
So friends, thanks for the interest and prayer. Pakistan for a week and then home. As you can imagine, we still need you to be on your knees. Pakistan is not an easy place, but we have great friends there.

Love to all
Helen and Kevin


$150 is a fortune

2012-08-16

It’s 7:something a.m. on Thursday, and early tomorrow morning we fly out of Pakistan. We’ve got today to hang out with our partners here in Lahore before the plane leaves at 3:30 a.m. We’ll try to get a sleep at around 7:00 p.m. so we get say 5 hours rest. But who knows what will happen. It would be good to get some sleep while on ground as much of the next 30 hours will be in the air.

It’s about 4 hours to Dubai and the 5 hours on the ground, then it’s 13 hours to Sydney and a couple of hours on the ground and then 3 more hours to Auckland. We’re ready to be home now, jobs almost done apart from all the reports and follow up. That’s years worth!!

Talking about long trips, last blog we were still in Burundi. Our friend Simeon dropped us at the airport around 11:30 p.m. and we checked in to Kenya Airways for the trip to Nairobi. No worries with that and around 1:30 we took off, 30 minutes later we were in Kigali and an hour later back in the air. Not much more than an hour after that we were in Nairobi. We were able to get a transit visa for nothing and get our bags. Then the long wait for the next flight. 6 hours later and sick of reruns of the Olympics we booked in, went through Immigration and were back in the no mans land of Nairobi Airport. How many hours have we spent in this place over the last 15 years? Every shop is familiar, I think some of the shop keepers even recognize us. Then onto Etihad for the 5 hours flight to Abu Dhabi, 3 hours on the ground and we’re in another queue for another flight, shouting at people who rush past to the front of the line like they are the most important people in the world. Then 3 hours and at 2:30 a.m. we’re back on the ground again, Pakistan.

Our good friend Azam was there to meet us and bustled us out of the terminal. Oh no, a parking ticket but a lot of hand gestures and thankyous later and no fine to pay, we’re off, this is Pakistan, land of Suzuki cars, made for little people with no luggage!!!

We had a nice time with Azam and Barbara in Islamabad. We talked a lot about the issues they face doing Christian ministry in this place. It’s not easy, but, if you’re Christian who has a relevant faith, the locals respect you. They don’t respect you at 5:15 am when the siren sounds and the local mosque starts up, but the rest of the time they are reasonably friendly and happy to greet you and talk. Our friends even have T_l_b_n friends he has regular conversations with about faith and other things. It’s Ramadan here so there is a lot of noise at night, a partying.

We visited the Christian School they have started. Last year it was just started with 10 kids, now it has 55 in 4 classrooms. They plan to grow it over the years from the current nursery, pre-school and grades 1 – 3, through to a fill primary and then secondary school. So we visited the school, an adult literacy class they run and a sewing class for 15 young people. There is a lot of opportunity for involvement here. But it’s a very hard place at the same time. The churches are pretty small, mainly because you have to sit on the floor I think!! We went to one on Sunday and Kevin was the preacher!! Not a lot of warning but that’s not new. Kevin also visited a Christian leper hospital, not a lot of lepers around nowadays, but the German women running it are still there and now treat a lot of TB. Some of the people we talked to had been there a year and would be there for perhaps another year. We chatted with a lot, prayed and encouraged them. Some were not going to be here much longer from the way they looked to me. It’s a really nice place to be in compared to the alternatives for many of them.

So, Tuesday morning, 8:30 we were on the bus bound for Lahore and by 1:00 p.m. were on the ground there. We thought Islamabad was hot, we had forgotten about Lahore. My goodness, oppressive is the only word for it. It’s hot and humid and the air conditioner is working overtime. Here we have attended a computer training programme graduation. 30 young people finished their 3 month course. They put through about 120 students a year here in the basic course and others in a n advanced course. The clothing factory is not doing so well. A few issues to sort out with that and we spent most of yesterday visiting the site, talking to the key people, going through papers and writing up reports. Good potential……. a lot to think about.

Today we finalise a last report on Pakistan flooding house building and then it’s waiting around for the plane to arrive; with full aircon. Last evening we spent an hour or so sitting on the roof of the house with a bunch of young people, hearing their stories and what they want to do. Hard stuff really. Two very bright girls, 20 years old, parents sick and really poor. One of them passed school leaving exams with the highest marks ever in the community, but will probably have to finish now and look after her parents. There is virtually no money coming into the home. Her future is all about poverty. Unless someone steps in and makes a difference, breaks the poverty cycle and invests in her life. I wonder who that might be? Here we are talking about $US150 per year to educate this woman, and they cannot hardly feed themselves.

So,in a few hours we’re out of here and headed back home. It’s going to be great to not have to peer into a suitcase to fish out something clean and sort of respectable to wear. And to sleep in the same bed for more than 4 nights and be able to move around the bedroom and have a warm shower!! Oh the bliss, it’s been a while.

We’ll drop another note when we get home to let you know we got there in one piece. But, don’t take off the seat belt, it’s less the 2 months and we’re back to Africa again!!! But that’s another chapter.

Thanks so much for the e-mails and messages, and your prayers , we really love getting them.
Lot’s of love
Helen and Kevin


last trip this year

2012-10-12

Hi there, it seems like just a few days since we got back from our previous trip and (gulp) in a couple of hours it's time to hit the airways again. It's been a really full on few weeks since we got back to New Zealand in August.

There were two trips to Christchurch. The first was for a catch up with the team and the second was for a get together with our BHW Field team. They are such an awesome bunch of people, just loved hanging out with them in Hanmer. It was great having their families with us and the weather was just great. 

We went to Hamilton one weekend to speak at a Missions Conference. It was nice there to catch up with a bunch of people from the past and meet some really passionate people involved in Missions and preparing to go out there. Then last week we sneaked away for 3 nights to Rotorua for a break. It was lovely to walk in the redwood forest and sit in the hot pools and have some time together….jus tthe two of us!! Then Saturday we went over to Sara ad Karl’s and stayed the night with them. Took us back to the days a few months ago where we were travelling together in Africa.

Sunday was a busy day. We left Tauranga early and headed over to Matamata and spoke at St Andrews Presbyterian Church there. These folks are supporting the development of a school in Uganda. So it was nice to spend some time with them and have lunch with their missions team afterwards. Then it was back to Auckland to catch up with Jared and Ruth and Hugo and in the evening to meet with a team from Mt Albert Baptist who are preparing to go to Thailand in February next year. Kevin will be going with them so it’s good to be meeting them this early.

This week has been finalising the details of the trip that starts in a couple of hours, planting our veggie garden, catching up with some of our church team (we have a team of 14 heading over to Fiji for two weeks leaving Sunday) and tidying up the grounds around the house.

We have been able to start some more new partnerships as well so there has been a lot of writing up things for the web and for donors. The new partnerships are in Pakistan (a school,) The Philippines (income generation activities for our partners there,) Western Kenya (a farm training programme for child headed families,) Myanmar (two micro-loan programmes) and Uganda (supporting teachers and a food programme for school kids in an extremely vulnerable community,)

In 2 hours we leave home and Helen will take Kevin to the airport. He flies to Bangkok, changes planes and then flies on to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. He arrives early Sunday morning local time and will rest up till Monday morning. Monday morning it’s into the South Sudan Embassy to try and get a visa and Tuesday it’s up to Gondar in the North to check out progress in the partnership there. Looking forward to spending time with Worku our mate there.

Thursday back to Addis and Friday off to Juba in South Sudan. Thomas will be there to meet me and to visit around the beneficiaries of the loan programme. Then Sunday I think it’s a drive to Yei, evidently not the nicest piece of road in the world. I have a couple of days there before heading off to Nairobi in Kenya to meet the team flying in.

Helen leaves New Zealand with some of our BHW team on Wednesday the 24th. We meet up in Nairobi on the Thursday and spend the next 2 weeks together with the team in Kenya and Uganda. We have 3 days around Nairobi meeting partners and then the following Sunday fly to Uganda and meet up with a bunch more people from Australia, the USA and the UK.

The main purpose of this trip is to spend time with our key Western partners on site in the field meeting our partners. There will be 21 of us that Helen and I are responsible to organise and chaperone. We’ll be doing some talking but mainly visiting key people and talking to them. We’ll meet a lot of awesome people and the poor ones they are serving.
On the 7th November Helen and the team leaves to return to New Zealand and Kevin heads off to the UK and the USA with Rob Purdue. This will be a chance to catch up with a number of key people and keep relationships ticking over. Kevin gets back on the 23rd November.

We’re not used to doing long trips at this time of year. The old mind starts to wind down a bit towards the end of the year but this year it’s all go. It’s taking a bit of mental strength to get back into the saddle. I guess it will all come back once we actually get going. So, we really need your help on the trip and thank you for your interest in the people we work with and in us.

Roll on Christmas!!!!
Love from
Kevin and Helen


death in the family and missing home

2012-10-18

I knew it was going to be bad flight from the moment I stepped onto the plane. The plane had flown in from Hong Kong and I was joining it. It was hotter on the plane than outside in Bangkok and it was over 30 degrees outside at 1:40 am.

It was like a sauna and those who had not got off were in a foul mood. The cabin crew were in a similar mood and the welcome was less than warm on arrival. It was a noticeable change from the previous flight from Auckland to Bangkok. That flight was only about 40% full so there were enough seats to stretch out!

There was someone else my allocated seat and as I was one of the last on and the flight was pretty much full there weren’t a lot of options left. The guy in my aisle seat refused to get out and go to his seat, a centre one a couple of rows ahead. I’m usually pretty accommodating about seats but after 12 hours on a flight and 6 hours stop over, I was not going to sit in a centre seat. Sorry. I had booked this seat weeks in advance, I know which seats to choose if I can. He managed to spend the rest of the next 8 hours disturbing as many people as he could, jumping up and down from his seat, pushing the call button and standing the aisle giving me the evil eye until I went up to him and had a little chat. After that he was fine and I got to hear his story. He was Nigerian and had spent almost 10 years in South Korea “doing business!” He was an importer / exporter and a year ago was caught by the Korean authorities who had thrown him in prison for 9 months and confiscated everything he “owned.” So he was on a one way ticket home! Shame, I didn’t give him my e-mail address!!

The guy across the aisle from me was Welsh and worked as a photo journalist, contracted to Non Government Organisations (NGOs.) He had just been in East Timor and The Philippines and was going to Ethiopia and then Nigeria. We talked a lot about life, faith (he was a free thinker) and poverty. During the conversation I had orange drink poured on me by the cabin attendant and tried to eat the worst airline meal I’ve ever experienced except the one a few years ago that caused me and most of the plane to vomit during the flight!

The entertainment system didn’t work. I was sick of movies from the 1st flight and the 8 hours seemed to take forever. It was cool on arrival at 6:30 am in Addis Ababa, the climate at this time of year pretty nice.

Right now ‘m sitting in a nice café in Addis having just downed a Greek salad for lunch. Helen would be impressed!! This morning I flew back to Addis from Gonder, a city in the north and 2 days with Worku. We spent a day on the site of the school he is building, it’s pretty impressive what’s now going on after many, many hold ups in the past 4 years. But now the vision is becoming reality. Awesome. In a year from now there will be 100s of kids in the buildings that are right now just foundations.

Wednesday we visited a group of blind boys that are being assisted with training. They attend the teaching programme and also attend normal schools. Most come out at the top of their classes because they have developed such good memories. Some very sad, very cool stories I heard from them. This culture is such a dog eat dog place. The blind or disadvantaged have to develop aggressive survival skills and will resort to almost anything to attain their objectives. Our guys are having to deal with a lot of difficult survival behaviour from both the students and the staff!

Then I went visit a bunch of widows and abandoned people. Such desperate poverty, it’s impossible to imagine what it’s like even while sitting there with them observing their tragedy. And in the midst of it the team spend time with each person, listening to them and touching them. They come 6 days of the week if they can make it this is their community. In the last month, 9 of the people have died. This is ministry at the hard end of life. Many are so sick and have no families so their neighbours come to pick up their meals for them.

One of the men who died didn’t turn up for his food 2 days running. They became concerned and told the local authorities. No one knew where he lived so they went out scouring the neighbourhoods until they found him dead in a house 4 days later. No one knew where he lived. That little phrase haunts me. how do you get to a point that noone knows you well enough to even nkow where you live. 

In an hour or so I go to the South Sudan Embassy to pick up my visa and tomorrow I hopefully fly into Juba. I've got 5 days there to meet the people involved in the loan programmes and make plans for an agriculture training programme on some land our partner Thomas has been given. That will be another new adventure.

Helen has had a rough time back in New Zealand. The day after I left her youngest sibling, Darcy, died. Darcy spent most of his almost 50 years in bed. He was physically disabled and his body was twisted and bent. He died peacefully from what I hear. So, the family has been together and he was remembered on Thursday by family and those who lived with him and cared for him. He was so well cared for. It’s been hard for both of us being apart at a time like this. Those moments are bonding times and I have missed the moment with Helen but also with her family. Darcy will be remembered as a happy guy despite his difficult life. There will not be one negative memory from anyone.

Not many of us will leave that sort of legacy. In our “normality” we seem to be able to hurt and damage each other with a fair deal of ability. One wonders what normal really is at times. 

And here as I am confronted with poverty and desperation it’s hard to get a handle on normal too. I just know that life is tough and I am one of a privileged few who get to be born in a relatively affluent country, into a loving family, at a time in history where there so many advantages and comforts. But still, life ain’t that easy, there are always challenges and difficulties to overcome and deal with.

I count it such a privilege to be able to lean on a God who is always there in the middle of the deepest, darkest extremity. I just wanted to say that.

Well, better go and jump in the taxi and survive the ride to the Embassy and then to another café that at which the internet works to send this out. One week till Helen gets here, great. 

catch you


a conference at Jinja

2012-10-31

hi there

just a brief note to let you know we are doing OK and sorry for the gap in communications. Kevin survived the extremes of South Sudan including crazy roads and more 4WD vehicles than any country he's ever been too. Met some people with real needs, many who have had to leave Sudan and become residents of a new country, South Sudan, and in the process losing just about everything.

then it's was back to Nairobi and a meeting with Helen and the team we're currently travelling with. there were 15 of us in Nairobi for 3 days and then to Uganda on Sunday and another 6 people joined us.

So right now we are a team of 21 from NZ, Australia, the UK and the USA. Makes for some interesting dialogue. We've been visiting a bunch of our partners and seeing and hearing how they operate. Interesting to see our partners here from the perspective of people who have just met them. Pretty rewarding really, they are an impressive group of people our partners and it shines through.

It's raining as we sit in the porch of the hotel doing internet stuff. We're off to Mbale today to meet Ann and Simon and the women they are working with. it will be another long day with travel and lots of interviews.

It's nice to be together again, no fun being apart. thanks for the prayer and notes, appreciate them very much. We're keeping well and enjoying what God is doing. At the same time we're pretty tired and needing a rest. roll on the holidays. Still, we've got another 5 days here then Helen flies home and Kevin heads off to the UK and USA.

love from us to you

kevin and helen


Thanksgiving

2012-11-14

The conference in Jinja went off well. The people with us were very impacted by the calibre of the people we work with and the huge issues many people face because of poverty. It’s such a tragedy to meet so many people with such tragedy in their lives. Mbale, where we sent the last blog from is an example of this. One woman got out of bed to meet us and show us her little project. She is very unwell and on an intravenous drip a lot of the time. But her children are dead and she is looking after a lot of grandchildren. Her living situation is better than some, but one wonders about how much longer she is going to be able to care for those kids.

And in the midst of all that you meet a woman like Grace. She is like a tornado of love and grace as she rips through life. People around her are blessed and encouraged. Her life has not been easy, but she is running a bakery that gives many women a little bit of income and a lot of acceptance and encouragement. Such a breath of fresh air.

After the conference finished in Jinja, 11 of us got on a bus and 8 hours landed in Lira. I say landed because we spent much of the trip in the air as we bounced along some pretty appalling roads and road works. We arrived to spend a couple of nights with our partners there and the kids they are bringing up. It was great to meet a number of the children and spend time interacting with them. On the Sunday Kevin talked to the kids and shared some Bible things to encourage them. A number of these traumatised children are currently struggling with the memories and memories of their shocking treatment at the hands of Joseph Kony and his cronies. We heard terrible stories of murder, abuse and torture from the kids as we interviewed them. It’s the first time they have allowed us to get close enough to hear some of the grim details. I cannot imagine the terror and fear they experienced. Em saw 4 of his siblings and parent murdered as a 10 year old and then another 60 adults mown down by machine guns before being tortured and dragged off by the rebels with him sole remaining sibling. He is now a leader in the house and talks about forgiveness…. Not sure that would be my response. I hope it would, but…..

After a couple of nights in Lira we drove to Entebbe and Helen returned to New Zealand. She got back safe with the rest of the team and now Kevin is with Rob Purdue in Chicago. On the way there they went through UK and spend 2 days in Bath and Bristol having meetings with donors. There are some very generous people around and it was great to be able to tell them many stories and brief them about the developments on the field and in the lives of our great friends there.

Kevin – had a great couple of nights in Chicago with friends Mike Murphy and Anita Lustrea. Mike is a guy who is able to get below the surface in conversation and I always come away from even a short time with him challenged and refreshed. While there we ate pizza and watched the Bears get beaten!!! On the Sunday Mike interviewed me at his church and we then went down into the ganglands of Chicago to see where he spends half his time. We drove along heroin alley and saw the stuff going on. It really is like the movies. Then we visited the men’s facility where many men with issues reside and talked to a bunch of them. Then we went to the women’s and youth facility and met a bunch of those guys as well. The woman in charge of the women’s facility that day had to give me a huge hug coming in and going out cause she needs to feel the spirit and you just can’t get that from a handshake. I imagine it’s a real tough place to live and serve, but what a place to be, representing the demonstrating the grace and mercy of our great God. Thanks for the insights Mike, appreciate you so much.

Since then it’s been a few meetings and a few more to go before Rob and I head off to Seattle tomorrow. It snowed on Monday night, soft powder all over the car and the ground, not quite enough to turn it into a postcard. But, last night Phil and Sue, where we are staying, put on a Thanksgiving meal. Bless them, for the 2 kiwis. It was fun chatting with our friends. There were 8 of us including some young folks we’ve known here for a few years.

Met a couple of fantastic men yesterday. One is from Jordan and we spent a lot of time working out how we become more involved there. There are significant opportunities to assist with poverty issues, helping the church become more relevant and self-sustaining. So there is a serious dialogue now underway. It is a hub country in the region with many issues to deal with. The other guy is an Egyptian and it was great to hear about how God is at work in that country, but that there are severe challenges now confronting the people of God there. It reminded me again just how important it is to come alongside local people and support and encourage them in their dreams. These young guys are very strategic in their thinking but face enormous challenges to implement their dream. It sure challenges me about my commitment to Kingdom values as I meet people like Safa and Fady.

Today, Wednesday we have a couple of meetings and then tomorrow head off to Seattle. Kevin has to speak in a church on Sunday and there are a number of meetings lined up. Then Monday it’s over to Dallas and on Wednesday next week, it’s back to New Zealand.

Helen has had some great times with Hugo since getting back. We were skyping last night and laughing about his crazy sense of humour and antics. It’s going to be a fun summer with him this hear. It’s been a full on year and we’re looking forward to a break and some downtime. Just about peopled out. Just about strung out from the travel and all the situations we’re experienced. But, our team is amazing, our friends and partners are just awesome and it’s a huge privilege to with alongside them all.
You’re part of that too and we want to thank you for your ongoing friendship and commitment to us.
Happy Thanksgiving……


Away again

2013-01-26

Hi there friends, in a sense this is a test run at this. Last year, for some reason, Get Jealous wasn't sending out alerts when we updated the blog. So, if you get this, please let us know either on the message board or on facebook.

Helen is in Brisbane as I write visting her brother and family. She had airpoints to use up. I am off to Thailand, Pakistan and Myanmar for 4 weeks later today. The year has got off to a flying start with this early trip.

I overnight in Bangkok and Monday attempt to get an express visa for Myanmar. it wil be an interesting expereince I'm sure. Everyone says it can be done, but Myanmar has become tourist destination of the month and a lot of people are going there right now.

Then Monday night I meet Fraser Scott, our Executive Director, in Bangkok and we head over to Pakistan. We have two partners there we'll visit, first time there for Fraser. The following weekend I get back to Chiang Mai and a team from a church in New Zealand arrives and we head into the bush along the Myanmar border area to build a school and some toilets. Should be an interesting time living in the local village with the people. It's part of a long term development project in this area with a group of villages. It sees us working on water and sanitiation, education, health, micro-loans and agriculture development.

Then it's back for a couple of nights in Bangkok visiting partners there and then on to Myanmar for a few days, training in micro-loans with two groups of partenrs and other discussions about developing their work.

I won't rabbit on as many might not be reading this. Hopefully Get Jealous will be running again at full tilt so you all get the update, if not, we'll have to work on an alternative.

It's going to be a busy year again so we invite you to sit back, strap on your seat belt and fly away,

blessings and best regards

Kevin and Helen


it's cold in Lahore

2013-01-30

It’s great to see that Get Jealous hasn’t let us down and you got the most recent blog. Thanks for those who sent messages and confirmed they had got it.

Helen picked a good time to be in Brisbane, rains and floods and generally stuck inside!! Oh well, can’t control the weather. The weather, that’s something very few people who don’t live in the West talk about. Either the weather hardly changes or they realise there is little point talking about it cause that won’t change anything!

Kevin got to Bangkok OK on Sunday and Monday spent the day getting a visa for Myanmar. Had to leave the hotel at 6:00 a.m. to get the skytrain, a train that runs from the airport to the centre of town. That connects to the city rail system. It’s pretty efficient and not too busy at 6:00 a.m. After a couple of switches he got to Surasak station and found the visa section of the Embassy. Bought an application form from the little shop along the road and ended up 12th in line to get in. There must have been about 200 people in the line, lucky to get there at around 7:30. Had to wait on the street till 9:00 a.m. when it opened. If it had been raining it would have been pretty miserable. But, although it threatened, it held off. So, out of there by 9:30 and hoping for a successful outcome. Got some breakfast and wandered around until he realised that it was going to be a long day wandering around until 3:30!!

Back onto the BTS (train system) and off to a big shopping centre, MBK. 5 stories of shops. Air conditioned more to the point with coffee and wi-fi. Basically spent the day hanging out there and caught up with a lot of stuff. Back to the embassy arriving at around 3:10 and this time it was near the back of the line, and it was raining, BUT, he not your ordinary idiot, by this time he had bought an umbrella. Actually, if he was really smart he would have bought about 150 of them and sold them. He had one and about 10 others and everyone tried to crowd under the 10!

Met some interesting people under the umbrella. It seems like all the travellers now want to go to Myanmar. I guess for all the wrong reasons it will be influenced by tourism. Though, if they don’t improve the process for getting a visa it might not grow real big! Oh of course, if you were organised you would apply in advance or something. Anyway, I met Japanese, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch and English and we had a nice time under my umbrella. They were fascinated that I wasn’t going to be a tourist but to help people and they had no idea about the strength of the church in Myanmar and the issues they face. Most just wanted to go get drunk on the beach!

Then it was back to the hotel, picked up the bags and out to the airport. Got there around 6:15, checked in and hung around till the plane left at 8:30. Met Fraser Scott, the BHW Executive Director at gate E3. He had been in Northern Thailand for a few days with a family from Australia who have been funding water and sanitation projects. They have done a couple and now are going to do a bunch more. So, off we went, 6 hours to Dubai and a 3 hour wait, then a 3 hour flight to Lahore and an hour of torrid fighting and scrambling to get the bags, get them through a “security” machine and then get 3 plane loads of people and luggage through a double door and out of the building. Half of Pakistan seemed to be at the airport that morning welcoming the other half who were returning from Haj. Every second person through the door got a clip around the ears from an angry policeman who didn't like people hugging each other it seemed. fortunately no-one hugged me. 

Anyway, it’s now 24 hours later and we’ve had a day of meetings with our partners. Interesting to work through the issues they are facing trying to run a business to generate local resources to help people. It’s a tough situation but Fraser was able to apply his considerable knowledge and help the guys get their feet on the ground. The next 12 months of operations will be intriguing.

After visiting the garment factory we then walked through the terrible streets of Youhanabad where we are staying. Basic is a word that comes to mind amongst a number of other adjectives. We arrived to visit at a school run by a friend of our partner. 360 kids crammed into pretty tight quarters. 16 teachers, tidy grounds, beautiful children, desperately difficult circumstances. Growing up as a minority people is very hard. The centuries of oppression have created an environment of poverty in the community that has become a mindset and a lifestyle. There is little appreciation of beauty or value on education producing hopelessness and futility. The downward spiral has robbed most people living there of dignity or big thoughts and aspirations. It’s a depressing place to live. And then you come into the school and although there is great poverty, there are also a few people with a dream to make a difference, we met some people like that in he school today. Inspirational,

We’ve got all day here and tomorrow it’s off to Islamabad by bus for a couple of days to meet our partners there. It’s cold here, almost like winter in New Zealand. They are talking about the weather. I think I prefer warm really, though cool is better than the heat we experienced here last year.

Wow, January has gone already. Next month Kevin will be 60 and the following month Helen will catch up, can’t believe where the last 60 years went. Been reminded about the brevity of life with the death of our friends Brian and Grace Johnston in Kenya. They travelled with us and 8 of their kids back around 2004 or 5. It sure made us think of the crazy roads we’ve travelled over the last few years, the near misses and other accidents we’ve come across. Such a loss those two, such an inspiration. Life is just like God says, a breath, a mist, a flower that is around for a little while and then it’s gone and then… make it a valuable one I reckon.

well, off to dinner and then to bed, an early start in the morning


Pakistan and TED

2013-02-03

I’ve just got back to the hotel in Chiang Mai after a couple of days of travel. A team of 10 will arrive here in 10 hours from Mt. Albert Baptist Church in Auckland. Then we’ll be off to the bush for just over a week. It was amazing, while out getting some food earlier in the evening and met really good friends from New Zealand. Some of you will know Gordon and Barbara Stewart, in Chiang Mai visiting their son and family, working here with YWAM. Small world.

Last ThursdayFraser Scott and I got the 7:30 bus from Lahore to Islamabad and were met by Azam Gill who took us home. We caught up and had lunch and at 4:30 went to Rawat to meet the sewing women and those in the adult literacy class. We presented certificates and sewing machines to a number of the women and talked to men in the adult literacy class. They were all very pleased to have received the training and asked that we continue with the sewing and that we start a computer training centre. They are keen to do that and I have asked for a proposal from them about it. Azam and Barbara would like it to be an internet café as well and for the men from the church to run it as an income generator. I think there is some merit to the idea. The adult literacy class is going well and they would like to continue it for another year. I think it’s worth it.

We then dropped Barbara at home on the way to the Kabul Restaurant and a meat meal! Then it was back to the Gills and slept in the same bed with Fraser! Scary doesn't begin to describe it!! ha.

The next morning we went to the school that Barbara has started. It’s developing nicely and the quality of teaching seems to be really high. The number of students is around 55 now and with the new intake it should reach around 80. They are really thankful for the support and generally I think this a really good investment. We then talked through their vision for the future and there are a number of things to think about.

Fraser and I played with Azam and Barbara's kids for a while Friday evening evening and then rested for an hour or so before “waking” at 12:15 a.m. Around 12:40 a.m. we headed off to the airport for the flight out of Pakistan. What came next was probably the worst airport chaos I have ever experienced. The place was total anarchy and it took almost 2 hours to get into the airport, through “security” and checked in. Then through another security check and more stamps from officials and finally into the queue for the bus the plane! Crazy stuff. The plane left pretty much on time at 3:15 and 3 hours later we landed in Dubai and Fraser had to get into another queue for at least 40 minutes to pick up another boarding pass! Then another queue for security. Anyway, I guess it was more interesting than sitting some sterile lounge.

Participating in queues in other countries is an interesting place to experience another culture. I am amazed at the patience of people who just put up with some who push in ahead of them, bully their way to the front of the line and pay off officials to take them to the front. More than one was called out that morning to the amusement of those standing around. One well-dressed woman was incensed when politely asked to go to the appropriate place in the line by a large kiwi. She sputtered and huffed and shouted until security asked her to go the same way I had indicated. Of course I smiled sweetly at to her later when standing next to her on the bus! Luckily I wasn’t sitting next to her on the plane! Ha.

Didn’t get any sleep on the 6 hour flight to Bangkok. Got to the hotel fine, cleared e-mails and slept well, 40 hours awake! Nice to talk to Helen on Sunday morning by skype and then flew off to Chiang Mai.

When preparing to go to Pakistan, and Fraser experienced this as well, many people were surprised that we would go to such a dangerous place. It got me thinking about how we form our opinions about people, especially those from other ethnicities and cultures. In western cultures we love to hear a story about someone, a personal story, not just facts and figures. The problem with that is we form our opinion of a country based on that story. We often type cast whole ethnic groups and countries on the basis of that story. So we have a picture that Africa is a hopeless case, full of poverty stricken people. Mission agencies and NGOs often contribute to this as well by picking stories that tug at our emotions to elicit a response and give money. This further reduces the listener’s capacity to get the whole picture.

Mention the word Pakistan and we imagine bombs, terrorists, Moslem extremists and suicide bombers. We met some lovely people on this trip, very generous and hospitable. And some of them were Moslem’s and one was even Taliban. The time has come for Christ followers to wake up to the world and grow up in their perceptions about what is really going on. Of course there is a Moslem extreme minority, but they are a very small percentage of the population.I think A much greater threat to Christianity is the apathy within the Christian community towards what God is doing in the world and our lack of commitment to enhancing the reputation of our master.

I was very taken by Azam and Barbara’s ability to love across the religious divide and the way they accept others and are accepted by them as friends. Most of the teachers at their Christian school are Moslems and before leaving the morning we visited they asked us to pray for them, having asked if we were Christians!

A friend sent me a link to an address given by Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian author. It is a TED presentation called “The danger of a single story.” I tried to add the link but couldn't do it in Get Jealous. But, go to Google and type TED the danger of a single story and it will come up.

Anyway, I had better get off to sleep. Not long till the team arrives and I’ll have to be at my best. I put up a few pix and will do more when I get back to civilization. I’ll be off line for about 8 days from Tuesday. Thanks for following, appreciate your prayers. Really missing my girl on this trip,

Love 
Kevin and Helen


Krey Mo Kee for 8 days

2013-02-12

Sunday the 3rd I had a quiet afternoon in Chiang Mai catching up on e-mails, laundry etc. Met Mike Mann at 7:00 a.m. Monday and then off to the airport to meet the team from Mt Albert Baptist Church. All arrived safely. Spent the rest of the morning at ITDP, coffee and orientation. Went to lunch and Chris and Sandra Joll came too, they are missionaries from Mt Albert working amongst Moslems. Currently based in Chiang Mai after living in the South for many years. Worked on stuff in the afternoon while the team was visiting Doi Suthep temple which I’ve been to before. Then out to a Moslem Chinese restaurant with Chris Joll and bed.

Tuesday we drove 8 hours to the bush. Good trip, last 2 hours was pretty dusty and those on the back were covered in dust. That evening met the villagers, had a team meeting and went to bed. Slept pretty well really for an old guy on the floor. I don’t really want to be here, but I am so I’ll have to get my attitude sorted!! Generator started at 5:00 a.m. so figured I’d get up and get going before the others all arrive.

The first day went well. The team was great and got into things. The medical team went OK as well. I was involved in pretty light work, helping with shifting things around, carrying and shovelling rocks, and spreading concrete and screeding it. Late afternoon the team was playing games and I was able to get into some partnership stuff as I’m behind on it. In the evening we had team meetings and I was able to continue doing some partnership stuff again. Wednesday night slept OK, getting used to the floor!

Thursday I worked with the team doing various jobs, laying and screeding concrete, connecting school toilets to soak-away, and carting concrete and other stuff around. The day seemed to pass quickly, fortunately. Slept OK again on the hard. Friday passed quickly too. Spent it laying bricks, plastering and unloading a truck of concrete blocks. Only two days of work left. I have to speak at church on Sunday! The evening team meetings are going OK. This village is a breeze really compared to the earlier two we have worked in.

The old body is pretty stiff and sore from the work and from lying on the floor. Every time I move the back twinges or the hips groan or the old legs are shot through with pain. They say after a few days in improves but I haven’t got there yet. I think after another 4 days on the floor I’ll need that masseur in the market in Chiang Mai.

Slept OK Friday night. Put down an extra couple of mats that were not being used. Helped a little to ease the pain! Getting up early, around 5:30 most mornings. It’s pleasant and quiet for a little while and then the dogs and people start up.

Today, Saturday we are going to work on the roof of the school. It will be good to get that up. Our plan was to do the floors, the roof and toilet for the school and some toilets in the village. Looks like we’ll get onto block laying at the school too. Started on the roof and almost finished the toilet. Also started the blocks around the classrooms.

Sunday I got up a bit later, had breakfast and went to church. Had to preach and the team did a couple of testimonies and sang a few songs. Seemed to go OK, but not sure about the interpreter. I think there is a fair bit of nominalism here like in other places. Personal salvation comes second to being born a Christian. It’s a bit of a concern the lack of Christian spontaneity and vitality. It all seems a bit routine really. Still singing out of old hymn books and following tradition. After lunch we went to Kraw lor Bur, the place we did the water project in June 2012. We walked to the source for the team to see and wandered around the village. We had a discussion about the future and they are very keen for a pre-school there. Need to have a discussion with Mike about it and take it back to NZ for Hilltribe Hope. The Upper Room might be interested in doing a school there.

On arrival back in Kree Mo Kee they had caught a 3+ metre python snake, couldn’t tell the full length cause they had cut off the head. There was great interest from the team and everyone passing by as it was skinned, chopped up and later cooked for dinner. I have to say, dinner was rather exotic with wild cat and a number of other indescribable dishes. Everyone on the team thought it was great. Not sure I would like either the snake or the cat everyday. I’ve had snake before but not but not bush-cat, at least I’ve not had it knowingly. Later that evening the local villagers came around with their crafts and sold quite a lot to the team and put on a couple of cultural items.

Slept well really on Sunday night and woke feeling pretty good around 4:45 ready for another day. Lay there till 5:30 and then crawled to of bed for the last day of work in the village. Between other things I’ve been able to sort out an outline for talking to the guys in Myanmar so happy with that. Will write up a couple of things this morning for the team debrief. The morning went quickly, I did some woodwork putting hinges on doors, built a block wall and knocked off a little early to wash my shoes so I could get them dry. The afternoon dragged a little. We really finished all we could do about 3:00 and tidied up a bit. Each afternoon except Sunday some went off to do a kids programme. The others are all over at kids programme now and it’s a little quieter around the village. I’m staying in a house beside the road so everyone goes right past. It’s raised up so it gets a pleasant breeze. It’s quite lovely in the bush, though the motorbikes roar past disturbing the calm.

Kyaw Htay is an interesting old guy living in the village with his family. He’s about 60 years old though looks a lot older. He’s from Myanmar and the story goes that he fought against the Burmese army for 18 years. From the stories it appears that about 40 years ago he helped rescue and evacuate 3 Westerners from an army camp in Burma and brought them to Thailand. One of the men gave him a heart shaped dogtag with the shape of a key cut out of it which he still has. Another story goes that he went to the US for 3 months to train US army in some kind of warfare! He is a real clown, dressing up like a local peasant, dancing and cavorting around playing his little horn. He’s married to a wife 20 years his junior and she had 12 kids, only 6 have survived the rigours of living in this part of the hill country.

Slept really well on Monday night. I had less padding too as Mike Mann had come back and I was using a couple of his blankets. It’s true, the body does get used to hard beds. There was a ferocious thunderstorm and downpour yesterday around 5:00. The guys were pretty scared of the thunder. I got up at 5:00 am having gone to bed around 9:30 and feel really good. Might try this going to bed early and getting up early when I get home. We’re leaving at 7:30 for the 8 hours travel back to Chiang Mai. We plan to stop over in Ma Oh Jo for an hour to check out the school there on the way.

7 nights sleeping on the floor, not my idea of an ideal scenario. As you’ve probably guessed, I’m back in Chiang Mai. The team is off riding elephants and I’m catching up on e-mails. Whose idea was it to be out of touch for 8 days! Slept a little in the comfortable bed, I think I’m used to the floor now. Soon we’ll be having a team debrief, one more night here and tomorrow off to Bangkok.

It’s been an interesting part of the journey, seeing the team grapple with issues of coming face to face with poverty and injustice and asking a few questions here and there. Life in that area is very hard, I cannot imagine living there myself!  But the Christians are very determined to make a difference for their young people and their village, it’s inspiring to be part of it with them.

Managed to skpye Helen this morning. Missing each other a lot and not happy about all the time we are apart. 

love and best regards

kevin and helen


Myanmar

2013-02-17

Wow, almost a week has gone by, where did it go?

I’m currently in Myanmar having survived the Mt Albert Baptist team. Actually, they were an awesome bunch of people, very interested in what is happening in the highlands of Thailand, passionate about what God is doing there and wanting to be where God is at work.

After getting back to Chiang Mai we had a quiet day then on to Bangkok. Over the two days there we visited 3 BHW partnerships: Rahab – a group of people who develop friendships with the 4,000 girls who work in the bars for the “pleasure” of Western creeps and Chuen Jit – a lovely woman who lives with and works in boys remand homes, helping them become reintegrated into society after “time out.” It’s inspiring stuff really, really hard work, nothing glamorous about it…. but changing lives, giving hope to people and setting them free.

Friday evening the team left for New Zealand and on Saturday I flew over to Myanmar. 4 days and 5 nights here. I spent Sunday with one of our partners. Visited around his community meeting people, something we couldn’t do a year ago. Went to church and talked about plans for the future. There are a lot of things changing in Myanmar, obvious in one day:

I’m sure there are many other deeper changes as well but a few other things I noticed:

The next 3 days are full of meetings about partnership issues. Quite a lot to work on with micro-loan programmes to set up and some decisions to make about the direction of a couple of existing projects. There is new stuff to work on as well.

Helen has spent the weekend with friends in Hamilton, I’m sure there was plenty of mischief and laughter at the McConnell home. Not sure if Dave survived it! 

Well, it’s about time to head off to Hmawbi (pr Mobi) for the day. It’s supposed to be 37o today with high humidity, and it’s still 2 months till the hot season! I’ve uploaded a few pix as well for you to check out.
Love,
Kevin and Helen


home and 60

2013-02-26

The time in Myanmar passed quickly. On Monday last week I spent the day talking with friends about the establishment of a micro-loan programme. It was good to see what they have learned since the last time I was here. So, we made plans, discussed issues and then we agreed to start something there. It will be a pilot project for a year and then we'll look at ways to gorw it wider.

Tuesday was more of the same in some ways. A smaller group of people gathered to decide how the project will be set up. Again, it will be pilot to test the details of the project. While with this group, I also heard other stories from projects we had previously established with them. You know, it's really hard to make a living in Myanmar. The costs are not controlled, but the sale prices are by the big businessment (mafia) and other community "leaders" so they get all the advantages. Small scale projects often fail, but usually it's not because of the failure of the project, factors out of their control usually cripple them.

It's really sad when you hear stories of failure that have nothing to do with the ability of those running them. In one, the chicken project was burned by a wildfire and they have not been able to get it going again. In another, floods and then drought destroyed crops. On one occasion the local community leader didn't like the project because they had not been paid a backhander so none of the people in the community were allowed to work for our partner to plant their rice on time. It's tough and our freinds have huge tenacity.

Wednesday i spent time interviewing a group of people who are in hard places establishing God's kingdom. I heard stories of great poverty being helped and lives changed, of students being helped to learn English, of kids being taken into homes to be adopted, of famine areas receiving food aid and of many vulnerable kids being loved and interventions being made. It was all very moving. These people are giving their lives for the sake of the underprivileged.....

Thursday, early I made it to the airport in time to start the trip home. A one hour flight and then a 7 hour wait in Bangkok. Then 11 hours overnight back to Auckland. It was great to be home again. This trip seemed to drag on and I really missed home.

Then, the parties began! Not really, but you can't ignore 60 can you. Over the weekend a number of folks got together to celebrate the 120 years Helen and I have been here on earth. Where did they go. It was my birthday on Sunday and Helen's is in a couple of weeks. Jared and Ruthie and Sara and Karl put on the party, it was cool to spend time with good friends on Saturday evening. Then it was speaking at church Sunday and another get together with family at my mum's place on Sunday afternoon. 60 is really tiring!

So, what next? Well, no change really. There is still much to do, many places to go and a lot of reports still to write. But we love what we're doing, we want to continue as long as we are able. The role is changing, a lot more mentoring and after this year, a lot less traveling, we hope.

Kevin heads off in early May to the USA and Africa but before then we have:

So friends, there is plenty to do here as well as out there in other countries. No rest for the oldies. Thanks for being there for us. We really appreciate you and your interst in what we're doing.

God bless you and asante sana (Swahili)

Helen and Kevin

p.s. might be a few pix to check out too


60 x 2

2013-03-10

Bewteen us we have lived on the earth for 120 years! ha, lol, :).

It's Helen's birthday today and we've had a couple of weeks sharing with friends and family. All good, we are so blessed by our awesome family and awesome friends. Thanks for be there for us and being encouragers.

After the party a couple of weeks ago Kevin has been catching up on reports from the trip, 2 to go. Then a couple of friends came for the weekend and we had a day out on the Hauraki Gulf with friends of Bright Hope World. The launch took 13 of us out to Kawau Island, the seat of the first European Governor of New Zealand. We wandered around for a couple of hours and then went back and had an extended lunch and chat on the boat. It was a good time to catch up and share a little more of the vision of partnering with key people in developing countries. 

Then an hour back to the marina and home, we are privileged to live in a beautiful part of the world. Thanks to Murray Thatcher for generously providing his beautiful boat and John and Carol McConnell for the food and catering. 

Since then it was meetings around Auckland, looking after our grandson Hugo, writing reports and preparing for the upcoming trips. It's amazing how much time that takes.

Last Saturday we left home again for 2 weeks. We had a meeting in Onga Onga Saturday evening with friends from St Andrews church, Central Hawkes Bay. Then Sunday morning we caught some chickens and forced our way through the Chiang Mai, Thai market in the foyer of the church and spoke twice to their two services.

Sunday afternoon we drove to Parapraumu and spent the evening with Matt and Judy O'Byrne. They are taking on a role with Bright Hope World in Uganda. We talked through all the partnerships and we handed over a lot of information. 

Monday we woke to a gorgeous morning, Helen's birthday. yeeehaaa, she joins me in the next decade. In a few minutes we'll leave Paraparaumu and head towards Wellington for a birthday lunch and then to James and Nicki-Rees Thomas's place for the next 2 nights. We've got a meeting with the Anchor church tonight. They have been partnering with us in India and Myanmar.

Then it's over to Christchurch on Wednesday and meetings for the rest of the week. We're going to have a 5 day break next week in the South Island and recharge the old batteries, they are a lot older now of course! Someone has leant us a car and accommodation, we have awesome friends, have i said that before!

So friends, there is a lot going on. We are mindful of our friends in Kenya who are rejoicing over a reasonably safe election process. We are also mindful of our Chrstian freinds and family in Pakistan who have been totally shocked by the wholesale looting of homes and business by criminals and thugs. It has caused a lot of fear and we pray for their safety.

And we thank you for being on the road with us

Love and blessings

Helen and Kevin


Celebrations go on

2013-04-08

It seems like the party has been going on and on. The turning 60 celebrations have continued for weeks. After the party in Auckland that the kids put on we then headed South to Levin. On the way we stopped off in the Hawkes Bay for a church meeting and then to Wellington for more meetings and then on to Christchurch. Our friend Rob Purdue had a significant birthday as well so it seemed like another party. We then had a few days break in the South Island and were able to catch up with one of Helen's aunts. She is the last of Helen's father's siblings left alive so it was nice to catch up with her. 

Then it was back to Levin for a couple of nights and a party with some old friends and meetings at the church we used to be part of. Then, after nearly 3 weeks we got back to Auckland. For a day or too anyway. Last weekend we headed off back to Levin. Last year Helen's brother Darcy died. Last Sunday would have been his 50th birthday. So 6 of the 7 remaining siblings came together (one was sick) and buried Darcy's ashes and spent some time together. We spent a few extra days in Levin catching up with a few more people. So it's been parties and people.

Between all the moving around and celebrations it's been full on organising the rest of the year. It's going to be a busy one and as it's only 4 weeks till Kevin heads off again to the US and Africa, we thought we should touch base.

tomorrow we have two couples coming here from the USA and we're travelling with them to Rotorua for 3 days. It will be good to spend some time with them. Right about now they will be getting on a plane from Dallas / Fort Worth in Texas. They are from a church we work with and we've travelled with them in Africa quite often. Then the following week we go to Christchurch again for a weekend with our NZ based team. There will be about 30 of us all up. So that will be great and a lot of fun as well as hearing a lot of stories.

Its always great to spend time with our kids and Hugo our grandson when we are in NZ. Hugo has lots of energy and keeps us running and laughing...he is lots of fun! Next month we are looking forward to Jared and Ruth's new baby ....and then Sara and Karl's baby joins the family in September....

We continue to hear stories of transformation from the various places we are focusing on. Some areas of concern are the on-going attacks on Christians in Pakistan, the unsettling effect of the elections in Kenya - I think tomorrow the new President is being inaugurated, and the upcoming elections in Zimbabwe. Our friends there are very concerned as electioneering has begun.

So we continue to plan and prepare for the various events coming up. a report to the team at the gathering of our team, 4 messages in a weekend for the church in Dallas, training and orientation for the team in Dallas who are coming to Kenya in July, seminar in Melbourne on the way home from Africa and training in Sydney for a team coming to Uganda in August. And Heather at the office is on my case to get more write ups and reports on the website!!! She's lovely, really! 

So friends, we're really excited about the next few weeks and what God is up to in the lives of our partners. As I'm writing this I'm conversing with friends in Uganda and South Sudan, the USA, Kenya and Pakistan. So it's fun to wake up each day not quite knowing where we will be in the world that day.

We appreciate your love and interest and look forward to staying in touch

love and best regards

Kevin and Helen  


The family grows

2013-05-06

My goodness, a month has gone by and you've not heard from us. Apologies. Won't be a long note but a few things to report on. The last month has been pretty full on so here's a review of the action:

  1. We hosted our friends from the US and took them to Rotorua for a couple of days. We were proud to show off a little part of our beautiful country to friends. It truly is a gorgeous place.
  2. We then headed off to the South Island for meetings at the BHW office and a weekend with our awesome Bright Hope field team. We basically told stories all weekend about what is going on out there with our partners. It was such a great time and I am so proud to be on the team with such awesome people.
  3. Then it was down to Tauranga to visit our daughter Sara and Karl. Got the news while there that Sara's baby, due in September, is a girl...... ye ha, nanny and pop are rapt. While there we painted a ceiling and did a few other little jobs. The weather was amazing.
  4. Then, the big event, we welcomed a new little Honore into the world. Jared and Ruth had a son, Joel Bruce Kerry Cullen Honore. 7 pound 7 ounces and 3 1/2 weeks early.
  5. Kevin had a couple of days with two mates out on the Hauraki Gulf. We talked a lot and caught a lot of fish.
  6. Tomorrow,  Tuesday, Kevin heads off on the next trip for the year, number 2 of 5! First it's over to Dallas for some meetings, then 4 days in Kenya, 3 days in Ethiopia with leaders from the church in Dallas and then back to Australia for some more meetings. 19 days away and right around the world.

So, here we go again. Be great if you are able to tag along, Kevin will try to write up as many stories as he can so you get to meet some of the people he meets along the way.

 Thank you team for being there with us

Kevin and Helen


ROUND THE WORLD IN 17 DAYS....

2013-05-16

it's early morning in Nairobi and the clty is waking up. I've been awake most of the night, the hazards of a quick trip. Later today I head off to Ethiopia. At least it's a similar timezone.I am traveling with Jeff, Tyrone and Ed from Chase Oaks Church in Dallas, Texas. We're videoing some of our partners. The last 2 days it's been kids singing. They were amazing.Since leaving home on the 8th I have flown to Dallas, met with a team that is coming to Kenya later in the year, met with another church that is thinking about helping in Uganda, spent some time with the missions team of another church about partnership and preached at 4 services over the weekend. Then Monday flew frm Dallas to Nairobi. Good to get an upgrade on the 14 hour leg to Dubai. Bad to get a virus in my computer!Heien has been busy with family. mainly helping Ruth with little baby Joel. Evidently he's growing well. Sara came to visit too so that was great.sorry about any spelling mistakes in here, I'm doing it on a little smart phone and my thumb is getting tired! Really appreciate your interest and prayer on this trip. It's pretty grueling and little sleep ain't that easy to deal with.Love and Asante Sana from Kenya. Kevin and Helen


sober

2013-06-01

Last time you heard from us Kevin was in Nairobi typing an update on his little smart phone. If you have saw the size of his thumb and the size of the keys you would understand the value of that last blog!!

I survived the rigours of videoing kids in Nairobi, my word they were active little guys with such lovely voices and rhythm. It was great to see and hear them and to see the work being done by or partners there. We heard many stories of lives in the process of transformation.

Then I flew off to Ethiopia for 3 days with the guys from Chase Oaks Church. We visited Worku and those benefitting from the partnership he coordinates. We couldn’t get around everyone but met about 100 widows and vulnerable people who are victims of a savage society and who find themselves on the streets.

Himanot is just 15 and at school. Her grandmother was part of the widows feeding programme. Last year she died leaving Himanot alone. What becomes of a beautiful 15 year old girl left to fend for herself? Himanot is now part of the programme and now they are trying to find a family who will keep an eye out for her and befriend her. It’s worth it for these sorts of people.

Then we visited 10 blind kids who have learned Braille and now going to normal school. All of them were born with sight but have lost it at some time. Now they are at the top of their classes and really proud of themselves. Good on you guys.

Finally the school that is being built. It’s purpose is to generate income in Ethiopia so the work can continue without support from outside the country. More delays, but what a great location and a beautiful building emerging from the rock. It will have hundreds of students sometime in the future. The first stage will have 13 classrooms for a secondary school, then another 15 classrooms. Following that a kindergarten and finally a primary school. Wow, what a vision by Worku Tafete.

Then the long haul back to Sydney, Australia. Hopefully my computer would be fixed, sadly not. So, I borrowed a computer and got my presentation for Melbourne sorted. Had meetings with a team coming to Uganda later in the year and spent a few hours fishing in Botany Bay…. A lot of fishing but not much catching!

Then on to Melbourne and a seminar with church leaders from all over Australia, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and even Tasmania. Met some good people, one guy I first met in New Zealand about 40 years ago.

Then home to Helen and the family. Hugo is still full of beans, Joel is growing like a mushroom and Sara is blooming too, another grandchild in September. Helen spent quite a lot of time while I was away with the family; it’s lovely she can do that. I (Kevin) get the feeling it’s going to be hard to get her away so much in the future!
Oh, and I got my computer fixed and lost no data!!

This is a crazy year for travel. But, next year it’s going to cut back. Shorter trips less costs and a great team taking over from us. We’re still looking for some more people to join our team and are on the hunt!

Since coming back I’ve been reminded of the brutality of the world we live in, especially for the most vulnerable. I have had 3 reminders the last 2 days of this. A friend sent me an article about the brutality going on in Syria where the rebels have slaughtered women and children in a Christian village. The piles of children’s bodies made me weep. That dispute has become much more than rebels trying to overthrow the government. It’s become an excuse for thugs and murderers to commit atrocities.

A friend in Pakistan sent stories of young Christians and the issues they face as a minority, denied access to education and employment, beaten, raped and tortured. And this morning from India, stories of little children, again beaten and killed because their parents are Christians. And hardly anyone cares and when the story comes out no one seems to do anything. Truly this is a corrupt and brutal world. These events remind me of the caliber of the people we partner with who are intervening in these sorts of issues.
I salute you my friends as you put your skin in the game and your lives at risk to defend the poor and vulnerable in the name of the God of Justice.

Sober thoughts today……

It’s only 10 days until Kevin heads off again…. More to come


Africa calling

2013-06-10

I don’t really want to, but it’s time to start thinking about leaving on Thursday as it’s only 3 days away. Actually, it’s been hard not to think about the next trip as there have been a number of issues to deal with related to getting away. The main issues relate to Mozambique. Last time I just turned up at the border and they gave me a visa, but this time…. Oh no. Our partners in the capital Maputo aren’t there so I’m bypassing it. That’s where the hassles started. If I’d flown in there it would have been OK. But as I’m now flying into Nampula in the north, I have to have a visa. So, off to London with the application and nearly $500 dollars later they turn it down because the person I’m visiting hasn’t given me the street number of their house! Everyone in Mozambique has a street address the embassy guy says. I wonder when he was last in Mozambique! Most haven’t even got a street address let alone a number!

I’ve had 5 flight changes on Mozambique flights since booking them and I only have 2 flights! Whether I’ll actually get to leave the place will be interesting. Chances are I’ll get to the airport and find the plane left yesterday.

So, Thursday looms and then it’s off to Zimbabwe. The coming elections aren’t going to be happening while I’m there so electioneering isn’t yet as vigorous as we were expecting. However, my friends there are still nervous about me coming and I’ll have to keep a low profile. So it’s a week in Zimbabwe around Harare and then Bulawayo by bus.
After that it’s a weekend in Johannesburg on the way to a week in the north of Mozambique. I’m watching the news and just hoping that Nelson Mandela doesn’t die during this time as that event could close the country down.

At the end of the month I arrive in Nairobi and John Vlaming and Jerry Field from NZ arrive. We then spend about 12 days visiting partners in Kenya and Uganda promoting and training people in Foundations for Farming methods and talking about mindsets. These guys will be developing this programme in the future and this is a visit to connect them with our friends there so there are strong relationships underpinning the work they do.
On the 11th July, Helen arrives in Kenya and we spend 6 weeks together in both Kenya and Uganda. We’ll be visiting partners and hosting two teams. We’ll have 18 people from the USA for 10 days in Kenya. They’ll be painting a school and running programmes with a bunch of kids just outside Nairobi. Then a bit later we’ll have a team from Australia here, 8 people from a church. They’ll be building desks and furniture for a school and doing kids programmes just outside Kampala in a rural village.

As well as this we’ll be visiting all out partners with Matt and Judy O’Byrne. They are taking over the oversight of Uganda partnerships so we’ll be introducing them to all of our friends there.

So, plenty to do and places to go. Around the 19th August Helen will head back to NZ and I’m off to Armenia for a week with Ross Bunyon from Australia. Not sure what to expect there. It’s new territory for us but it sounds like an interesting place. Is there poverty there? What sort of poverty? What is the state of the church? What’s God doing there? Can we assist or would it be impossible?

The more I think about leaving the less I want to go really. It’s not a lot of fun saying goodbye for a month. It will be OK once we get underway, but till then it’s like waiting for something dreadful to happen.

Not easy to say goodbye to Jared and Ruth, Hugo and Joel either. We have a lot of fun we do. And with Sara and Karl coming up to the birth of their 1st baby I’m just hoping we don’t miss any major events! Sara would kill me! More than once!

Last week we had a quick trip to Levin to the funeral of a good friend, Bill Crighton. Bill was 96 years old and lived a full life. My goodness, what an interesting guy and what a huge influence he had. We remember many hilarious things from camps at Waikanae and Forest Lakes. We learned a lot about ministry, youth work and had many adventures. He left a very positive legacy, thanks Bill. His life is a challenge to live life well to finish well too.

Mmm, a lot of people to see and places to go. The plan is to keep you up to date regularly. I’ll try to get a few pictures up as we go along. I’ve started by loading a few from the last

trip. Hope you enjoy. Kevin and Helen


Zimbabwe

2013-06-22

Wednesday, it’s freezing in Bulawayo this morning. I’m having trouble getting my fingers to work. It’s 7:00 a.m. and the 17 kids have all gone off to school. The team and staff will be starting their chores in a while after prayers and breakfast. The goats will be let out, the steers and cow released for the day and the week old chickens are all huddling together under the brazier burning in their little enclosure. I’m at a centre that cares for a bunch of kids from a little rural community 25 kms outside the city. As usual, there are few people this far out of town doing much to develop communities.

I don’t think I’ve met a more focussed group of people as Gideon, Jennifer and their team. This community is very poor. Yesterday I heard stories from kids about how cold and hungry they are at night. And I snuggled under 3 duvets on a soft bed and went to sleep. I wonder how well they slept last night, and last night and for the next month before it starts to warm up a bit at night.

But these guys I’m with are doing a fantastic job in very trying circumstances. I cannot imagine how they are able to maintain their faith and commitment when they have nothing in terms of economics. Last night I spent a couple of hours listening to stories of miracle after miracle of the way God provided for them and the kids. Very inspiring. Very challenging. Am I getting too old for that kind of trust in God? It's very radical.

It’s been an interesting week. The flight to Zimbabwe from New Zealand was long but I popped a couple of sleeping tablets on the flight from Brisbane to Dubai and must have slept for about 7 hours. That makes the 14 hour flight seem a lot shorter. My friends in Harare were there to meet me and we had 4 good days.

Saturday we spent the day at the farm being developed as an income generator. It’s a nice piece of land and our partners have good plans coming together. We had a tyre blowout on the way but had that fixed pretty quickly. We ate huge amounts of meat that day, well, what else do you eat on a farm….. veggies!

They are such hard workers with a passion to make a difference in their country and in God’s kingdom. Three brothers and their families have this mission and work hard to make it happen. They are such different characters and such fun to be around.

This country is plagued by politics and it tries to get it’s power hungry fingers into everything. Victor has had huge issues trying to help people because every time they try, one party accuses them of being political. The politicians and their cronies see the poor as a group that can be bought with a few promises. They troll the countryside promising help to get votes and it becomes very ugly. In the process the poor are further abused and mistreated. Of course those with nouse understand what is happening, but in their scepticism can reject even genuine opportunities. However, we think they have come up with a new plan that could work.

Sunday I went to church with the family and 4 hours later escaped having had to speak, along with about 10 others! We spent the afternoon and evening talking about the new plans for the work.

Monday I spent the morning visiting a couple of places related to the farm and picked up a part for the charger on my computer. We also travelled to Norton, 45 minutes out of Harare to see the computer centre set up about 3 years ago.

Tuesday morning I boarded a bus for Bulawayo and 6 hours later arrived. My friends there were waiting and we headed out to where they are working in the country. It’s gold country; there is a huge mine just down the road. It’s also extremely rocky and dry. There is a lot of illegal gold-panning going on. The mine employs very few locals, their greatest contribution to the community appears to be the spread of HIV/AIDS. The team are doing a huge job of working with the community to address the big issues. These are local Zimbabweans who have been here for more than 10 years and only now are they gaining traction at the heart level.

I am totally impressed by what I found out in the villages today. These guys have probably the best community development thing going on that I have ever seen. They are feeding a bunch of kids who are extremely vulnerable, they have renovated two local dams and are growing gardens alongside them, they have renovated a cattle dip, they have a goat loan programme for vulnerable families in the community and another goat loan programme for vulnerable orphans and their families, a home with 16 very vulnerable kids and a programme training local communities in conservation farming methods. They have engaged the community so they make the decisions and determine the priorities. Along with that, many people have become Christ followers and you know, these local guys whose lives have been transformed are leading the change in the own communities.

Totally impressive to see God's people at work like this. I’ve got the feeling we’ll be back here more than once in future.

Friday, I managed to fly to Johannesburg and am having a bit of a break for the weekend. Helen and I were able to skype a couple of times, nice to be in touch after a week without contact. She’s got a really sore back and headaches, it’s no fun being apart when you’re not feeling well. She’ll visit the osteo and the doc next week.

I’ll not be in touch again for a week. Monday I head off to Mozambique. I’ve put in a few pix for you to look at.  Until then,

God bless
Kevin and Helen


hanging out in Mozambique

2013-06-28

8 hours waiting in Beira airport….. there must be better ways to spend a day, I can think of quite a few. My tickets were changed and instead of leaving at 11:30 am for a 45 minute flight north from Nampula to Pemba I had to leave at 7:00 am and fly an hour south, wait 8 hours and then fly 2 hours north to Pemba. So here I sit, it’s not like there is a lot of activity to look at and there certainly ain’t much to eat!

Anyway, this isn’t about travel and complaints, it’s about the people I met. And it’s been interesting out in the coastal town of Angoche with our friends. The most interesting thing was to visit a little village about 7 km from Angoche. It’s called Praia Nova – new beach. The people here were all shifted from an island when it started to wash away. The islands and most of the coast here are all sand. Anyway, the government resettled the people onto the mainland a few years ago and built a school for the kids.

Many of these people became followers of Isa – Jesus – some years ago. Once they worshipped a different prophet and a different God. Now life is different, better, much better. Gone is the fear, the darkness and superstition. Replacing it are peace, strong relationships, faithfulness, freedom, literacy and economic development.

We sat under a large tree on the sand and sang, recited liturgies they have learned (very helpful when few can read their own language and there is not a lot of the Bible in the Koti language,) listened to me for a few minutes and prayed, sheeesh they prayed. We then played a few games with the kids and prayed for one little guy who was down with malaria!

It was kind of strange, kind of amazing really! No trappings, all extras stripped away, just us and God and heaps of people watching on. The group is growing slowly, people keep asking what they are doing and why? And when they find out the join the group…. pretty cool really. A bit like the Book of Acts I guess. And people are healed, regularly. There are two literacy classes in the village cause on one can read the Koti language, most can’t read at all. So the reading is really important for these people.

Another day I attended the training for the group we are working with. They come from all around the place every Wednesday for training. They then head back home and teach what they have learned. The teacher is one week ahead of his flock! And it continues to grow. 3 years ago they were in 2 districts, now it’s 4 and they have sent people 100s of kms north to a different people group to share the same good news. One guy I met cycles 240 kms a week on rough sandy roads to visit 3 distant villages and teach them. The commitment is way up there in this place.

There are two farms that vulnerable women go and work on every year at cultivating time. So far 30 of them have been doing this. On the 1st farm 20 women go each year. Last year they were able to go and set up for the coming season without any financial help. They are making enough now to becoming self-sustaining. It’s pretty cool really. I talked to one guy whose wife is involved and she has grown more than 20 sacks of rice. That makes a huge difference for a family. He proudly told me that he now goes to help as well when he’s not fishing and they can send their kids to school easily. Wow.

As I travel I’m reading a book called “Toxic Charity” Robert Lupton. If there was a book I wish I’d written it would have to be that one (there are a few books like that actually but his is the latest.) It captures pretty much the issues have to deal with in Bright Hope World. It’s just so hard to get the balances right between mercy and justice. He has a very helpful chapter about that – chapter 3.

If I was to be really hard on myself, I think I still largely struggle with this. It’s really hard in the face of the poor, when they are knocking at the door begging for help to say no. one of our partners just about 2 weeks ago warned me that we must not do it, citing the number of times she had been ripped off with stories that were simply lies.

Tonight I’ll be in Pemba, it’s a beautiful coastal town in the north of Mozambique. It’s well known for it’s beautiful beaches, fishing and diving. I’m not expecting to be doing much of that I’m afraid! 

Helen hasn't been well but is now improving. this weekend she is running a baby shower for our daughter on Saturday. Sara is due in September so the is going to be a lot of fun and games.  Helen's voice, which had disappeared is coming back so she's happy about that!

lots of love and thanks

Kevin and Helen


more uses for a plastic bag!

2013-07-04

Helen is in Tauranga this weekend with Sara and Karl. She’s organising a 2nd baby shower for Sara as many of her friends couldn’t be at the one in Auckland. They’ll be having a lot of fun I imagine! No, can’t imagine being there really, I’ve never been to one, no guys allowed.

Yesterday we (John Vlaming, Jerry Field, Francis Kamau and I) were walking through another slum in Nairobi, Makuru Kayaba. More than 50% of the population of this large city live in slums. He showed us where he grew up, he took us to the house where he spent 10 years of his youth, where his mother died and where he has chosen to return.

After growing up there he managed to leave the place. He lived in Russia for a while and the Ukraine but found himself married to an American woman, owning his own house, with 2 kids and a managing a large budget work amongst the poor in urban America. His dream had been realised, until one day they sold it all up and shifted to Zambia to serve God amongst vulnerable children. That’s where we met him. After being there for a number of years they shifted to Nairobi, now it was time to come home, to serve the people he grew up amongst.

This is a close community. I mean we could hardly fit between the buildings. I don’t think it’s as bad as Mathare slum, but I think it’s closer. There is not one second of privacy in a place like this. There are many uses I’m sure for a plastic shopping bag but I discovered a new one there, a toilet. So you just poop in the bag and in the morning throw it in the river! (I can’t believe I wrote that.)

He made a number of statements I will remember. The one that struck me went something like this. When asked what made the transformation in his life, the catalyst for that kind of change he said, “no one came to me with a bag of clothes or food, someone gave me Christ and that was enough for me.” From that moment on, and living in the slum for another 8 years as a teenager he had no doubt that he was a child of God. And even though he had no father, he was not defined by the place he lived in and what he didn’t have, he was defined by his relationship with God.

Friends, I think that’s what it’s all about, transformation at the heart level not just a change of external circumstances or some aid that breeds dependency.

Since last blog it’s been a bit of a whirlwind:

So today, it’s over to West Kenya. We fly to Kisumu for a couple of nights and then it’s on to Uganda on Sunday for a few days.

Next Thursday I get back to Nairobi and Helen flies in from New Zealand, only 6 days and we’re back together. We both hate this being apart thing. This is the last year I keep telling myself,

So, there’s a lot going on and we value your prayer. We’ve got a lot of km to travel in the next week, driving on some pretty crazy roads, borders to cross, visas to get and connections to make.

Thanks for being with us in all this, it’s very special.
Asante sana from Nairobi
Kevin and Helen


Farming

2013-07-10

As I write this Helen will be leaving New Zealand on the way to Kenya. Yeeehaaa, after a month apart it will be nice to be back together again. It will take her about 30 hours of travel to get here, knowing her she’ll get an upgrade!

I’m in Uganda having flown across to West Kenya on Friday. Jerry, John and I have had more than a week of training and talking to people about Foundations for Farming. You can check it out on the Bright Hope World website. It’s been really interesting listening to the issues people face trying to change their agricultural practices. The people are poor and growing worse and worse crops every year and continue to do the same every year. The government agricultural officers sit around in offices and do nothing. It’s an appalling waste of resources, time and energy. It’s been great to see the lights go on for some people. I’ve included a few photos for you to see.

Friday we flew to Kisumu and had a slight glitch so spent the day catching up and making plans for the future. The plan is that John will start becoming more involved in moving around, motivating and training our partners. So we’re developing a plan for each of them and for him. Already we’ll have him in Zimbabwe in 3 locations, Zambia in 13 locations, Kenya in 6 locations, Uganda in 4 locations and South Sudan in 2 locations. Then there are other partners in some of those countries to get around and new opportunities in Ethiopia, Burundi and Tanzania to develop so, he’s going to be a busy boy is our John!

Saturday we spent with a partner just outside Kisumu with a nice amount of land to develop.

Sunday we crossed the equator and stopped for the obligatory photo, then crossed the border to Uganda and spent the afternoon talking to our Busia partners. They have a large micro-loan programme and the farming training is really needed.

Monday we jumped into a local mini-bus for the 2 hour trip to Jinja. We passed one bus on fire and an empty fuel tanker on its side so it was fairly typical and uneventful. Oh yea, on the weekend we came across a truck in the main street of Kisumu with a 40’ container on it lying on its side in the street. It had just happened, the wheels were still turning. One wonders how it’s possible. They were carting an injured guy away and 100s of people were climbing over the vehicle.

Monday afternoon and evening and all day Tuesday we spent train 12 people from 4 locations, 3 in Uganda and 1 from South Sudan. It was encouraging to hear their stories and help them take new steps. The average African farmer produces less than 1 tonne per hectare of maize. We reckon they can get it to at least 6 tonnes per hectare, probably more over time. And we reckon that churches have the network to roll out this sort of thinking. The biggest problem we face is the pastors of the churches.

So now it’s Wednesday and it’s a quieter day. We’ll meet our partner here for a few minutes then drive the 2 ½ hours to Entebbe. John, Jerry and I will spend the afternoon debriefing and then tomorrow morning we fly out. John and Jerry on to Zambia and me to Kenya. I’ve got some meetings in the afternoon and the around 6:00 p.m. Helen flies in. We’ll not have much time to catch our breath though, Friday evening we have 18 peeps from the USA flying in and it’s into tour guide mode.

Bye from a pleasantly warm Jinja, the Source of the Nile.
Love
Kevin and Helen.


The time is right

2013-07-21

My goodness, where did the last week and a half go! Apologies for the delay in writing, it’s been a crazy few days.

Kevin got back from Uganda to Kenya OK and John and Jerry headed off to Zambia. Helen arrived in Kenya and after a 1 day recovery, the team from Chase Oaks Church, Dallas, Texas arrived, all 18 of them. The last week has been full on leading that team. Some of the highlights include: 

We were there for a week and yesterday pulled out of Tala at 10:00 am and came to visit our partners in the Mathare Valley (read one of the worst slums in the world.) This place still disturbs and impacts people. The team walked down through the Valley and visited a number of families. It was a VERY quiet bus trip after that as we went out to lunch around 3:30.

After lunch we headed past the Maasai Market and out to the airport. One of the girls had injured her foot so we had a bit of sorting out to do with tickets etc. But they all left and the last thing I saw on facebook was that they had arrived in Amsterdam.

So for us, we have 2 sleeps here in Nairobi. Tomorrow it’s over to Entebbe and the next chapter begins. Matt and Judy O’Byrne arrive about the same time as us and we spend 2 ½ weeks visiting all our partners around Uganda. This will mean a lot of kms on local buses and lots of talking. We are handing over to Matt and Judy the on-going development of the partnerships so it will be a little sad as well, we won’t be through here so often in the future. We have a lot of very good friends there, people we have done a lot of years and hard yards with. But, the time is right.

It was great to skype our daughter Sara this morning, we really miss home, especially on rest days.
So friends, we appreciate your on-going interest, we’ve thrown a bunch of new pix on as well for you to look at.

love 
Kevin and Helen


computer lost

2013-07-27

Last Monday we flew from Nairobi to Entebbe in Uganda. It’s only a 2 hour flight and there were no dramas. We had to wait about an hour in line to get a visa. I don’t know why in a small airport with only about 10 flights a day they have to schedule 3 at the same time. Anyway, we got out OK, picked up our bags and got to the hotel by Lake Victoria. About 30 minutes later we met up with our friends Matt and Judy O’Byrne. They are travelling with us for the next 3 weeks.

We are in the process of handing over our work to a group of people and Matt and Judy are picking up Uganda. This trip with them is largely to introduce them to our partners and make the face to face transition. It’s an exciting time for us as other come into the development of the Bright Hope World field.

We spent Tuesday relaxing a bit and briefing about the partners and the schedule. It’s going to be a bit of a trek. We have 6 existing partners to visit, about 10 projects to look at, a new project with an existing partner and 2 new partners to meet. So it’s going to be full on. Along with that there will be 10 local bus trips and a number of motorbike rides.

Wednesday was overshadowed by the loss of Kevin’s computer. Somewhere, somehow between the hotel, a 45 minute trip to the bus, a brief transfer of luggage from the small bus to the main bus the computer disappeared. Dropped, stolen, who knows. All we know it was gone. It’s not the end of the world, but it is the end of a lot of reports and information from this trip. It’s pretty gutting really. It means there will be hours of time not able to use efficiently while travelling. Hours of time on buses without being able to write and record. So, we‘re trying to work out how to get another computer from NZ to Uganda!

The bus trip to Rukungiri was about 8 hours and pretty bumpy and hot and sticky and dusty. We arrived around 2:00 p.m. and spent the next 2 ½ days visiting a cow project, checking out a school we’re involved with and listening to many stories from those being helped and groups trying to help their people. We heard a number of issues from those trying to help. There are many things they have to deal with when trying to help people here. Superstition, jealously, poverty all combined make a potent mix of opposition.

Then yesterday, it was back again on the bus. We woke at 5:00 and left the hotel at 5:30 for the bus. At the bus park the next one was not leaving till 7:30 so back into the taxi and off to find another bus. Before 6:00 we were on the bus waiting for it to fill up. About 6:20 we drove off into the town, the wrong direction and picked up about 10 people. Then back to the original location and there were a few more. At 6:40 we headed off and stopped at every village and town for the next 80 kms. It’s was pretty slow. Eventually the bus was full and after to loo stops on the side of the road and numerous other stops we got to the crazy bus park in Kampala just after 2:00. Tried….. but in one piece. We negotiated a taxi and pushed our way through the crazy traffic to the little hotel we frequent, the New City Annex.

A hot shower, internet and a nice meal saw Kevin asleep by 8:00 only to be woken at 11:11 by the phone, a new partner is coming to visit us tomorrow. 

So today, Sunday is a rest day and tomorrow it’s off again across Uganda. We have 1 night in Katosi, one night in Jinja and then 2 nights across on the Kenya border with our friends there before spending next weekend in Mbale.

It’s warm here, pleasant really. Nice to be away from the New Zealand winter. We’re missing family and friends and when something like losing a computer happens, it makes home seem like a long way off.

Thanks for the notes and encouragement and prayers , we really love getting them either by e-mail, facebook, skype, text or reply to the blog.
I’ll wake Helen up now to add a few lines to this.
Lots of love
Kevin and Helen


IT WILL BE

2013-08-04

We’re in a nice internet café in Mbale, it’s been an interesting week.

We spent a night in Katosi. The school continues to grow, more than 500 kids and almost 250 in the boarding facility. We spent time with the kids, visited all the classes and talked to our partners, Timothy and Janepher. They are inspirational, no idea how they manage to support so many children. While there we made final plans for the team from Australia that comes in a few days.

We also visited Mbale Village School. This is one very poor community. Out friends travelling with us were shocked by the poverty of the children. It’s great that they have been able to build some classrooms, but still very basic. One teacher who is only 21 is dedicated to serving this poor community. It takes her 2 hours to walk to school every day.

Then it was on to Jinja. The weather is turning to rain so we got a little damp. We met the beneficiaries of a loan programme and heard their stories. It’s great to hear of the changes going on thought they have many challenges.

Then a local minibus ride from Jinja to Busia and 2 days with James and Gorret and their team. They are another inspirational couple. You should see her little farm, vegetables, goats, sheep, pigs (one gave birth to 7 piglets while we were there,) chickens, turkeys and soon a heifer is coming. There are trees planted for timber and everywhere you look there is something going on. We worked the budgets for another year for education, church development and the micro-loan programme. This now has well over 100 active members.

We were also able to start another micro-programme there with them. It’s pretty exciting to see the development of the loan programme here, and in some other places as well.
Early Friday morning we left Busia for a trip to the Kween District of Uganda. This has been a place of many disputes and is an area Westerners are not recommended to go. But we went to the village of Pangani. The main Village here is Atari which means Danger and Pangani which means machete for obvious reasons. It’ a huge grassland area, the roads are appalling; I’ve put us some pictures. We went to the new community school there and met the teachers, community leaders, church leaders and children, all 180 of them. There are many challenges and opportunities here.

Already since our partners have been there 3 villages have reconciled and stopped hacking each other. People are becoming Christ followers every week, they have no idea how many people come to the church. It’s more than a little inspiring. Now the decisions about the most appropriate way to engage. It is a very different place to be, I foresee many issues to deal with. But, when a community is desperate to change it requires someone to take some risks.

We got back from that day quite late and after dinner with another partner we flopped into bed in Mbale. Sleep came easily.

Saturday and Sunday has seen meetings with our partners in Mbale. They are great people. We talked to a group of women whose lives are being transformed by the loan programme. We heard stories and introduced Matt and Judy to them Matt and Judy are learning heaps and will be great partnership facilitators in Uganda. We were able to explore the start of more loan programmes and the expansion of a bakery that has grown out of the loan programme. Awesome stuff really. We love doing this stuff.

Yesterday as we talked to the women about their lives and loan programmes we started dreaming about the future. They talked about what they would like to happen. After one lady shared her vision we asked, is that possible! “IT WILL BE’ was the reply. In a real sense these were words of creation, realising a dream. She was expressing her absolute confidence in her God who had proved faithful over many years and in many tragic circumstances. She was expressing her trust in us as well as partners who had stuck with them though thick and thin and she was expressing confidence in the formidable power of community they experience here in this group.

We’re keeping well. Helen has finally got over jetlag (4 weeks) and has had 2 decent nights of sleep! We’re starting to think about the end of this trip now and all the things we’ll have to catch up on when Kevin gets another computer; it's coming over with the Australian team.

See the photos we’ve uploaded with this, a summary of the last couple of weeks.
we love getting messages and emails from you.

Helen and Kevin


twin demons, poverty and dependency

2013-08-09

A couple of days off, nice…. Though still a lot of work to do. On Wednesday we caught a bus from Lira to Kampala and 6 hours later arrived. Then a jump into the seething mass of people to get to a taxi to bring us to Entebbe. Not a bad trip really, not very comfortable but we got here in one piece and that’s a blessing. The lady opposite us had 4 small chickens on her lap with their legs tied together.

In about 4 hours a team from 8 from Australia arrives and joins us for 10 days so its back into organising and making sure everything is going OK. The plan is to make school desks at a school, run a number of programmes for kids and generally interact with the children in the school / hostel. There will be plenty to do and we’ll have a lot of fun I’m sure.

Since the last blog we’ve been in Lira. It’s the town that used to be the centre of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) terror. The family we are part of there is growing up. The first one has left now and others are leaving secondary school and getting into further training.

Amos has graduated as a nurse and now wants to go on to become a medical officer. One day he wants to be a surgeon. It’s great to see the kids becoming adults and contributing to society.

Some of the younger ones are struggling a bit. It’s incredible how the abuse in their childhood continues to impact their lives. The abuse reaches years into the future and frequently messes up their thinking and decisions. The older children are now helping with the younger ones; they understand the issues I guess.

The costs in Uganda are going through the roof. In doing the budget with our friends we found that salt has doubled in price, rice and maize flour have gone up significantly. Largely because of the levels of corruption in Uganda most of the large donors have left. Around 30% of the national budget was previously funded externally but now the donors have jumped ship. So, taxes and levies have come on, 18% has been added to accommodation and so forth. But it’s the local poor who suffer the most of course.

Frankly, it’s about time these countries started funding themselves; it’s time they faced the realities of life. It’s time for the big underwriters of these countries to realise that the bulk of their aid goes into the pockets of the corrupt and little gets to those who need it. The next thing will be for the locals to let their corrupt leaders know their responsibilities and hold them accountable for the theft and greed.

I’ve recently been reading the book Toxic Charity; it’s worth a read if you’re interested in helping the elimination of poverty and in loving the poor. One of Robert Lupton’s comments was:

We reckon the dependency that is crippling Africa has to be addressed, now. Every generation it continues will see an increase in poverty, a continued rise in corruption, more and more land degradation, injustice and exploitation and the creation of more generations robbed of their birth right.

Yesterday was Eid ul Fitr, the end of the Muslim Ramadan fast. It was crazy noisy here and a public holiday. People were out parading in new clothes and fasting was not on the agenda. But for many there was little joy in the end of the fast. There are many suffering in Muslim countries. Our friends in Pakistan have made us aware of the on-going problems of flooding and bombs, our friends in Jordan have highlighted the plight of so many refugees from Syria and then there’s Egypt and Yemen and Somalia…. Getting the Good news into those places becomes such an important mission.

Anyway, now it’s only a couple of hours till the Ozzies arrive and we head off to Katosi. That will be a cultural experience for us, outnumbered again!

On our last blog we added some new photos for you to look at and get a glimpse of some of the people and places we visit and the adventures along the way. You might have to click on the “our photos” tab.

Love to all and thanks for being on the team.
We love hearing from you and appreciate your faithful prayers.
Kevin and Helen


lasting impact

2013-08-14

We’ve been overrun by Australians, fortunately they are a good bunch of people. We managed to get them all off the plane, loaded them onto a bus and took them out to the town of Katosi on the shores of Lake Victoria.

It’s always interesting to see a place we are familiar with through the eyes of people who are seeing it for the first time. The comments are often quite funny, but it’s good to be reminded of the levels of poverty we can take for granted.

Since we got here on Friday it’s been pretty full on. Keeping the team fed and watered is a bit of a mission but we’ve kept them happy up until now. We’ve spoken at churches, turned 100s of metres of pretty rough timber into school desks, run kids programmes and painted a new library.

Katosi is a little town with many large problems. Drunkenness, prostitution, HIV / AIDS, hundreds of children and poverty are all an obvious part of the fabric of this community. Our partners here, Timothy and Janepher are great. They came to live here to serve community. They came with nothing but willingness to help and before long found themselves living in a very small house with 25 abandoned children and 100 chickens!

They started a small school and a little church and found the work growing. Now they have a school in Katosi with more than 500 children and hostel with 218 boarders, many are orphans. They have a large church in the town and have established a number of others in the islands of the lake. About 10 km away there is now another school, Mbale Village. There are currently 92 kids there and it’s going to grow.

We have talked to many young people as we’ve been here, dozens of them. All of them talk about the impact of this couple in their lives as they have been nurtured by them. 4 of the current school teachers were once vulnerable kids in the school and hostel. It’s very humbling really. Huge, deep and eternal impact. What about our impact, have we left this world a better place like they have…. Have you?

Thanks to those who have helped here at Katosi. Tomorrow we are going to open the library, commission 100 beds and mattresses and the desks we have built, around 65 I think.

- St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Matamata, New Zealand provided the funds for the library and the books. Previously they provided a science laboratory as well, it was good to see the senior kids in there a couple of days ago sitting an exam.

- Christian Community Churches Australia Partnerships for the beds and mattresses.

- Allawah Community Church, Sydney, Australia for the desks and the team that is here and

- Chase Oaks church, Dallas, Texas, USA for the books that are about to be sent for the library.

It’s great to have such awesome partners with a clear understanding of their role in what God is doing in the world. Long term impact, eternal outcomes.

Well, we are about to head off back to the school to see how the desk construction and library painting are getting on. Hope you have a great read and enjoy this part of the journey.

It’s only 7 days till Helen gets home now and 12 days till Kevin gets home. In many ways it can’t come quick enough.

Love and blessings

Helen and Kevin


Armenia and home

2013-08-19 to 2013-09-06

It’s a long time since you heard from us, apologies. There seems to be a glitch in the get jealous system. Last time we updated the alerts did not go out. So, we’ve been testing for a bit to see if it’s working, then got too busy….. you know, usual excuses.

Frankly, after a long trip, writing is not one of the things either of us feels like doing. But, we do this blog for you and also for ourselves, it helps us process what’s going on and what we’ve been experiencing. Condensing it down does help.

We survived the week in Katosi with the team from Oz. they were great and as well as making 66 desks for the school and painting the new library, we were able to run a number of programmes for the kids and make a lot of new friends.

After that Helen came home to New Zealand, no worries with the travel. We overnighted in Dubai together and then she came home and I went to Armenia, a new country and many new experiences. Let me share a few observations. I was there with a team of mainly Australians, most from Armenian descent. We had a really nice time with them and the local people.

Today as the world debates what to do in Syria, escalating that terrible conflict should be condemned and rejected as an option. We Westerners have this profound disability: we tend to think that a simple solution has the ability to solve a complex problem. The issues in Syria are beyond simple solutions, millions of people are in desperate trouble, many of them are our brothers and sisters in faith and belief.

The Syrian / Armenian refugees I met in Armenia are lost, confused, abandoned and have nowhere to go but to a corrupt system that gives them no help, in fact in many cases, increases their lostness. It was heart wrenching to hear them and see the hopelessness in their eyes as they considered the future. Many of them found faith and hope in Jesus while we were there. PTL.

I’m still thinking this one through. It’s a tough one to deal with and I cannot get some of the images out of my mind.

I’ve been home over a week and it’s been pretty full on. We are so tired at the moment that the writing of reports has been shelved for a bit. We have a new granddaughter about to arrive so we’ve been visiting the mum to be. We have 2 messages to deliver the next 2 weekends and it’s only 2 weeks till Kevin hits the air again for the next trip, 2 weeks in Kenya and Uganda.

Hopefully it won’t be as long a gap till you hear from us again.

We so appreciate it that you are following along on the journey with us.

Kevin and Helen


new arrivals

2013-09-15 to 2013-09-22

I really don’t know where to start with this update. But, first of all, I’m in Nairobi and I’m safe, so don’t be too concerned. Well, be concerned enough to pray at least? I got here yesterday, Sunday  afternoon having heard a rumour while flying that there had been an incident in Nairobi. Had no idea how bad it was until we landed and found Nairobi very quiet, almost seemed like the city was in shock. I guess when we start moving around this morning we’ll get a better idea if our plans here are going to be affected in any way.

I’ve not been able to contact all our partners yet so don’t know how many have been affected and how. Fortunately not many of them frequent Westgate Shopping Centre. Last trip to Kenya we were there are couple of times.

Since last time we have a beautiful little granddaughter. But she didn’t have an easy entry into the world. Last Sunday we got the call that Sara was starting labour so we headed off to Tauranga, just over 3 hours away. We caught up with Sara and Karl and as there wasn’t much we could do, we went over to our friends Marg and Julian Senior’s place in Te Puke to stay. They were great, just made us feel at home and we were able to come and go at the whim of the labour pains! And, come and go we did as did the labour pains. Finally, 3 days later and by c section Coco was born. What a beautiful creature she is.  I’ve added a couple of photos of her.

So it was a pretty full on week really. We  drove back to Auckland on Friday and Saturday I was gone. It all seems a bit surreal. One minute you’re doing the family thing, loving every minute of being a dad and a granddad and next minute, half a world away we’re walking into a major tragedy and a totally different scene.

I was able to catch about 6½ hours sleep on the flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi, it’s such a help when that happens. In a couple of hours we’ll be driving around Nairobi visiting some of the poorest places on earth and visiting people who are making a real difference to thousands of people.

I’ve got a team of 9 Australians, Bible College students at Emmaus Bible College with me. They seem like a nice bunch of people. It’s the first time in Africa for most of them. It will be interesting seeing the world here and our partners through their eyes.

I woke at 3:30 this morning so it’s gonna be a long day. Not too much to organise but I have to keep a couple of days ahead of the team with logistics, busses, meals, water, questions……

I’ll try to stay in touch as we move around. Helen is staying with Sara and Karl while I’m away getting some good old nanny time. It was great to skype them all a few minutes ago.

So, about to head out into today conscious that may in this city are grieving today.

Love to all

Kevin and Helen


Disturbing

2013-09-22 to 2013-09-27

I’ve had 3 very busy days in Nairobi and later today we head off to Uganda. It’s been interesting to visit a number of our partners and see them through the eyes of interested newcomers. It’s been great to observe again the calibre of our friends here as they explain what they do to these people.  The 3 days have been busy organising and moving from place to place, often caught up in the Nairobi traffic. It’s so important to have a good driver when here, one who knows the back streets and short cuts when there are traffic jams. Peterson is great and a lot of fun to be with as well.

It’s been pretty hard to ignore what’s been going on the shopping mall at Westgate in Nairobi. It’s very disturbing. Along with this I’ve received a number of other disturbing reports from some of our partners about the terrible circumstances many of our Christian brothers and sisters are experiencing. Here are some of them:

  1. A friend sent me an article about the Syrian situation titled, "the end of Christianity in the Middle East.: in what ways does that disturb you?
  2. A friend in Jordan told of an incident in Syria where el- Qaeda terrorists rounded up 130 Christian people, tied them to trees and shot them all, including children. They then threw the bodies in a hole and burned them.
  3. A friend in Pakistan wrote to me about the bombing of 2 churches in Peshawar, Pakistan. He and his family heard about the incident as they were driving home from church last Sunday. So they dropped the kids off at the house and drove 2 hours to the Peshawar to support those who had survived. Their stories are harrowing. In one family the only survivor is a young boy. There are hundreds still very badly hurt and the government has done nothing to help, in some cases not allowing them into the hospitals because they are Christians and they don’t want to have then there in case they become the next target.
  4. Another story from Syria where 3 young men were executed for being Christians, a girl with them was shot as well but survived.
  5. Egyptian Christians tell me they are facing terrible pressure, people are being attacked, their houses and businesses are being destroyed, their women and daughters being raped and abused and their churches being burnt.
  6. And then these goons in Nairobi rampage through a shopping mall shooting people because they aren’t Moslems in a country that is more than 60% Christian.

I was sitting with some young Kenyan people yesterday and of course the subject came up, it’s a very current issue here. One guy said, this sort of thing is happening all the time, it’s only news this time because Westerners and wealthy were victims. It got me thinking, what should the response of Western Christians be to the systematic murder of our brothers and sisters? It’s happening every day.

I couldn’t sleep thinking about it; somehow we have to confront the issue.

There are millions of our blood brothers and sisters losing everything in this life. They are the butt of terrible persecution and suffering and see their loved ones murdered in front of them and we are hardly moved.

Of course we could respond with violence and call in the Americans! But the human reaction to retaliate or repay violence with violence is such a hard thing to resist. Give them guns to defend themselves?

To confront the despair of displaced people is a terrible thing. “No hope” is a desperate street to live in, “despair” is not a pleasant neighbourhood.

I’ve not got a lot of answers; I really just wanted to raise the issue. I’d be interested to start a conversation about this if you want to? Let me know what you think? What attitudes could Western Christians adopt concerning the issues our brothers and sisters are facing? How could we respond to them? How do we address the injustice? Should it even concern us?

For me, I’ve had enough of this, something has to be done. I’m going to push like crazy within my network, within Bright Hope World to do more. It might be to develop more partnerships in the trouble spots, it might be to start a new field of focus and it might mean more visits to see what can be done.

Meanwhile, back in New Zealand Helen is staying with Sara and Karl to help with to help with their little one. Her full name is Coco Gia Honore Shearman. Cute. Can’t wait to get back and see them all. Sara is recovering from a c section so isn’t supposed to be doing a lot of lifting etc. So I guess between feeds, sleeps, nappies and household chores there will be a lot of family female bonding going on.

Love to ya’ll

Helen and Kevin.


Robust

2013-09-24 to 2013-10-01

I’ve only got 30 more hours on the ground in Africa on this trip. It’s been a pretty full on week really. The team from Emmaus Bible College, Sydney have been meeting a number of our partners in both Kenya and Uganda. It’s been a good opportunity for me to see a number of our partners and catch up with them. I am again impressed by them and impacted by their great faith.

Yesterday afternoon we visited about 10 widows in their businesses. Then about 20 of them gathered with us telling about the issues they face. Strangely perhaps, I came away not impacted by the problems but by the robust nature of their faith and hope. Our team were exhausted by the end of the worship time! What is it with people like this? What do they understand about faith that I still need to learn? There is a fire in them that burns very hot and that is so compelling. To listen to them pour out their hearts to God is like being transported to another realm.

It seems that the trouble and hardship produces something in them that our comfortable western charade just doesn’t produce. It’s very basic, it’s very raw yet somehow authentic. One guy we visited put it like this, “it’s like leaning against a tree, if you take the tree away, then our lives are over and we fall.” Of course God is the tree, and he doesn’t move; we do. We stand on our own 2 feet and if God doesn’t turn up, so what, the programme goes on. For these guys, if God doesn’t turn up they are stuffed.

I guess it’s that sort of faith that makes it possible to stand in the face of suffering and refuse to give up allegiance to God when staring down the barrel of a gun. I’m not sure how robust my faith would be in the face of a threat to my life; I imagine grace would come at that time. I’d still love to hear your thoughts about the attitude Western Christians could adopt to the carnage that is happening to our Christian brothers and sisters in many countries?

Last blog I mentioned the suicide bombs in two churches in Pakistan. I’ve just heard that the aunt and uncle of one of our partners there and a number of other close family members were killed in that blast. What do you say to someone who has just lost close family members as the result of a deliberate act of terror? Mmmm, I’ll have to think about it. Or, what should I do?

Tomorrow I travel with the team from Jinja to Entebbe, it’s only 120 kms but it could take us 4 hours. The traffic in Kampala is terrible, jammed most of the day. We’ve been having interesting discussions as the Emmaus students, grapple with the things they are seeing and the people we are meeting. They have been challenged by the lifestyle of these people.

Helen is still in Tauranga with Karl and Sara. Sara is taking some time to get on her feet after Coco was born but is getting there slowly. Not sure if Helen will get back home sometime soon. In the middle of next week we were planning to be in Christchurch but we may have to make some changes.

So I’m facing another long transit by plane. On Thursday I leave Entebbe to Nairobi and have a 3 hour stop over. Then it’s onto another plane for a 5 hour flight to Abu Dhabi. Then it’s another stop over for a couple of hours before the 14 hour haul to Sydney. I overnight in Sydney then back to Auckland around midday Saturday. I’ll fill in the time reading, writing a few reports, watch a few movies and a long sleep, I hope.

We appreciate your involvement in our lives, your love and the comments, thanks so much. October already, where did that year go!

Love

Helen and Kevin.


Family

2013-10-01 to 2013-10-22

I cannot believe it’s 4 weeks since I last wrote the last blog. It’s been a crazy blur of moving around, family and reports.

Anyway, in summary, I survived the trip back from Africa. I’ve now take sleeping pills on the long flights and they knock me out for about 7 hours. Makes a 13 or 14 hour flight bearable. I have to tak 2 pills though, 1 doesn’t work!

So, I got back from Africa and three days later Helen came back from Tauranga after time with Sara and her new little daughter, Coco. The team from Emmaus Bible School were a great bunch of people, got to really like being with them and I think they learned a lot.

We were only back for a week at home and then flew off to Nelson to spend some time with our team members there. We’ve got some new initiatives starting in Africa around agriculture so it was good to catch up with them and make some plans.

Then on to Christchurch and the team there, meetings, reports and more reports. We have been able to approve the start of about 8 more partnerships in South Sudan, Bolivia, Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe. So, pretty exciting stuff really. We also made plans for travel next year. It looks like we’ll be out of the country less from next year, always part of the plan.

We got back from Christchurch on Thursday last week and since then it’s been family stuff. Sara and Karl came with Coco on Friday, they had a wedding in Auckland on Saturday. Sara and Coco stayed on and just his morning Helen has gone off with them back to Tauranga. She will be back tomorrow. Then on Sunday Hugo, our oldest grandchild had his 5th birthday. So that was a great afternoon at his party. Today he starts school, 5 years old, so big, so quick….. where is life going?

So, now, my mind start turning to the next saga, Monday it's off again for 4 ½ weeks. Last trip for the year, lots to see and deal with and great people to meet. I’ve got 5 days in Ethiopia, then the same in England meeting donors and then it’s 3 weeks in India and Nepal. There are people with me all the way apart from a few of the flights. Talking about flights, I’ve got 20 flights in 33 days, so it’s going to be a bit of a trudge and a lot of time in airports.

I’ll let you know how the flights go and some of the people I meet. Part of the problem is going to be really wet weather in Ethiopia. The area we are going has been flooded and the roads washed out so we might not even get there. So I’ll need old clothes for that. The next part is meeting in London where I’ll need like a suit and tie (not sure I’ve got one left?) and then it’s off to India where it’s around 35o Celsius every day. So, how to pack light!

Tis going to be great to see the progress in our partners and to hand over many of the partnerships to team members.

So friends, you can have the rest of the week off, Monday, seat belts on and ready to fly. Look forward to having you on the trip with us.

Appreciate you interest and prayers and love getting messages.

Enjoy the photos, one or two family ones as well.

Love in Jesus

Kevin and Helen.


Goose bump stories

2013-10-23 to 2013-10-31

Hey from Gonder in Northern Ethiopia. The weather is beautiful at the moment, fine and warm, not too hot. It’s harvest time so the countryside is just beautiful.  Lot’s of gorgeous colours with crops at various stages of ripening. Lots of people in the fields harvesting and other activity. I’ll put some pics up next blog.

Flight one was Auckland to Dubai, 19 hours, two legs with a stopover in Sydney. The first leg was quite empty, seat 45G, bulkhead, good leg room. One of the best plane meals I’ve ever had, lamb shank! Dozed and read a bit. No one beside me but a pleasant Indian guy across the aisle with his wife and young  daughter who squealed frequently all 18 hours. They live in Auckland and we going back to Mumbai to visit family.

Leg 2 the plane had about 100 free seats. I was in 45G again with a Dutch family, 2 young kids and only 3 seats. Lovely. I spotted that 45C was free with a spare seat beside it so just as the doors closed I was up and off. A good flight really, slept for 7 of the 14 hours, watched a video, read a bit and tried to chat to the girl a seat away but she wasn’t interested in talking. Flying can be pretty lonely even though you’re in a crowd. Most are preoccupied, earphones on, doing something else, don’t really want to talk…. especially to some old geezer. The A380 is huge.

Then it was 5 hours in the business lounge at Dubai and a shower. Awesome. Then to gate B8 and I met the team from the USA. We boarded the A330-200 for Emirates flight to Addis Ababa, 5 hours. An older plane, less room though no one beside me and not enough room to work. So, I settled into seat 17G, watched a video, read and chatted with the guys from Chase Oaks Church.  Check out the Chase Oaks Church website, go to the Make a Difference tab and then Global Opportunities and you’ll see the partnership we’re doing with them? Sorry I can’t insert a link in here, I’m using the cheap version of Get Jealous and they can’t do links unless we pay for the privilege. Something to do with security. The 3 peeps from Chase Oaks Church are all staff members, Jack Warren, John Stanley and Tracy Bell-Parlin. They are great to travel with and we have a lot of fun.

No worries on the flight to Addis. We got our visas and cruised out into Ethiopia, well, a 4 hour wait till the next flight. No worries with getting onto the little Bombadier Q400. Seat 14A, seating starts at row 13. A 1 hour flight jammed in, leg room OK but seat width not great. The Ethiopian guy was trying to talk to me but I was so tired and sleepy I hardly got a word out. We arrived in Bahar Dar and Worku, our main man in Ethiopia was there to meet us. Ghion Hotel, cool evening by the lake and bed…. although bed and sleep are not synonymous. But, horizontal is better than vertical.

Got up at 5:00 am and sat by the lake for a couple of hours, beautiful and worth it. We spent the morning hearing stories of God at work in dramatic ways. What is happening in the Gumuz area of Ethiopia is truly incredible. These people have been shifted from their land because they use the land inefficiently. They are bundled into villages as part of the villagization programme of the government and their land is given to corporate farmers. They have little orientation and struggle to live in this way. The guys we talked to have gone there with the Good news and are helping the people to adapt and come to terms with what is happening to them. They have come from the stone age to the 21st Century within months and there are many things to deal with. Their past and their culture has been torn away from them and the Good News is now filling in the gap and becoming their new culture.  Awesome stuff and stories that make the hairs on your neck stand on end; goose bump stories.

After lunch we drove the 3 hours from Bahar Dar to Gonder. It would almost qualify as a low flying flight. It’s harvest time, hills and plains, harvest colours and clear skies. Just beautiful.

More later…..

Love and peace

Kevin and Helen


worn out

2013-11-01 to 2013-11-08

I’m really struggling to keep up on this trip with all the things I’m trying to do. Since the last blog I’ve not had a lot of time to myself to write this stuff.

I think I last left you having just arrived in Gonder, Northern Ethiopia. It’s a really interesting town, lots of tourists there now, it wasn’t that way when we first started coming here. So, a quick summary and some comments:

Flight 5 was a Bombadier Q400 from Gonder to Addis Ababa. It’s was a short flight, seat 12J, no one beside me. Then it was a 6 hour wait in Addis airport before checking in for the flight to Dubai. Lots more coffee, I’ve had my annual dose of caffeine now.

Later on Sunday we boarded a Boeing 777 for Dubai, seat 45J, again no one beside me. I dozed a bit on this flight, 4 hours. Picked up a hotel voucher, shot through Customs and to a free hotel for the night, I actually slept. Monday morning it was back to the airport for flight number 7, another Boeing 777 and another good flight with no one beside me. I think I must have bad breath and there’s a warning out about seating someone beside me! Flew into Gatwick, London for the 1st time. I managed to survive the British rail system and got to Victoria station, then a short ride to the hotel and there I was, Oxford Street, London.

Huh, weird, one day I’m sitting in front of some of the most desperately poor people in the world, next day I’m standing in front of the temples of western consumerism on Oxford Street, resplendent in all their Christmas tinsel and decorations. Bizarre is a word that comes to mind. It all just seems so disconnected, somehow  unfair.

That night I met up with Rob Purdue and a group of Trustees of a large British charity. Tuesday we made a presentation to them, where’s my tie! They are a nice group of guys, 18 of them.  They continued their meeting through the afternoon and Rob and I wandered around the Hotel between showers of rain. Then the train to Bristol and 2 nights with friends there and a couple of meetings. Late Thursday afternoon Rob and I came back to London and stayed the night nearby Heathrow airport.

So now I’m sitting on flight number 8, an Airbus A380, one of the first one I think. On Emirates and this time I’m in seat 45H. You guessed it, the plane is almost full but no one beside me! Pretty much worked all the way on this flight. Enough room to do it at it’s really only about 5:00 pm. 7 ½ hours to Dubai, then it’s a 3 ½ hour layover and the next time you hear from me it will be from India. Rob is on another airline and we’ll meet again in Bangalore.

It’s been nice to be able to skype Helen a few times the last few days. Nice to see each other and stay in touch. After the weekend she’ll head down to Tauranga with Sara and Karl and Coco. Missing them all.

So friends, thanks for staying in touch and praying, we so need it. I cannot explain how deep the work is that’s going on and the transformation of lives, families and communities.

Trust you are encouraged and doing OK.

Helen and Kevin


Hope and change among the poor

2013-11-08 to 2013-11-14

Flight 9 and for only the 2nd time on this trip I’m sitting beside someone. However, they couldn’t talk English! So I had to talk to the guy across the aisle for a bit. But I was tired, the flight left at 3:40 a.m. I had a good relax in the Emirates lounge for 3 ½ hours. It can get pretty lonely on these trips, you see 100s of people but you know no one. I was in in seat 44H not a bad seat in and Emirates Boeing 777-200.

The flight to Bangalore went with incident apart from something falling out of the luggage bin and onto the person behind me. I didn’t do it. Then into Bangalore, no hassles and Judith Payne, a NZ friend living in Bangalore was there to meet me. About 10 minutes later the rest of the team came in from Singapore, James and Nicki Rees-Thomas and little Lucy and Peter and Anne Kemps, all kiwis. So it’s a kiwi contingent for the next 2 ½ weeks in India and Nepal. Let me give you a bit of a summary or out time in Bangalore:

As I said, I’m travelling with a bunch of kiwis, whom I’ll introduce you to; Rob Purdue, I’m sure I’ve talked about him before. He’s the boss at BHW and is catching up with a few of his old friends here in India, it’s about 5 years since he was here; James and Nicky Rees-Thomas and Lucy, BHW India Field facilitators. I’m here with them working on the India partnerships. They are from Wellington and are fantastic people; Peter and Anne Kemps from Auckland, friends and donors of BHW as is their church. They love meeting the people they have been supporting for a long time. First time in India for them so it’s all a great adventure.  We’re having a lot of fun and seeing a lot of challenging stuff and hearing amazing stories.

So, right now I’m in the city of Kakinada. We flew here yesterday from Bangalore, flight 10 of this trip in 2 legs. Although it was only two 1 hour flights, it took almost all day. The plane was an ATR72 on Jet Konnect Airline. Leg one I was in seat 3C and leg 2 in seat 10C. I lost my boarding pass with all 5 baggage tags but was able to sort it all out and the bags arrived OK.

We got to Kakinada, had a 1 ½ hour wait at the airport as the leader of an opposition political party was on our plane and there were 100s of people there to meet him and finally we got to Emmanuel and Jesse’s place to a great welcome. After meeting the 46 kids they have in their place we visited a place (leper colony, I hate using the term, sounds like a zoo) where they have a feeding and wound dressing programme for a group of people with leprosy. More than 100 people are fed three times every week and their sores and wounds are cared for. The disfigurements are hard to look at, but these are real people with a lot of needs. It was great to spend some time there with them. Most of them would be begging on the streets without this programme.

Today we have visited a number of sewing programme in very rural villages around Kakinada. It was encouraging to hear about the change that comes when women are trained and empowered. It changes their lives and the whole family. Is some places and whole village is being changed and given hope. The stories were truly inspiring.

So, while I’m here, Helen is in Tauranga with Sara, Karl and Coco. It was great to be able to see and talk to the 3 girls this morning. Coco is growing so fast. Can’t wait to get back and see them all again.

Thanks for being with us in this. Really value your prayers, my gut is playing up and there is a lot of travelling over the next few days in pretty rough conditions. So it’s not really the time to have a dose of the you know whats!

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen.


clean undies and clear skies

2013-11-14 to 2013-11-20

I managed to get 4 days out of the shirt I’m washing. Not bad for India, not good for my travel companions. So first thing this morning it’s washing.

There has been a lot of travel since the last blog, let me fill you in:

I forgot to tell you earlier, but Nicki and Lucy were not with us in Kakinada, they flew straight to Kolkata the day we flew to Kakinada. Lucy and Nicky were unwell in Kolkata as well so decided not to do the next leg and will catch us in Delhi. They came and met us at the airport. I wasn’t feeling that well either on Sunday, just tired I think. All the road travel, bouncing around and different food.

To be frank, I’m over road travel for a long time. I’m over walking after trudging around the streets of Darjeeling and I’m totally over airplanes. There ain’t many transport options left as I think about it.

Hightlights: Momos, check out what they are on the internet or go to a Nepali restaurant and eat some; beautiful children with horrific, dreadful stories; a culture of children being abused, bought and sold and even given away; magnificent mountain scenery, Darjeeling tea drunk in Darjeeling is very nice and you know, the Good News about Jesus really does make a difference in the lives of vulnerable people.

Question: what stops me being vulnerable to the point where my life is transformed like theirs seems to be. Can’t shake that one as I drift off to sleep this evening.

See ya, hopefully I’ll be in touch from Delhi,

Love, Kevin and Helen.


doing the hard yards

2013-11-20 to 2013-11-25

Wednesday last week was a special day. We spent the day with our friend and partner Primala Rumtel in Silguri. She is a remarkable woman. A Bhutanese refugee, she has chosen to stay in India rather than go to the USA with her family because of the love she has for those she works with. She is developing a little school and hostel for Adavasi and Nepali girls. These kids are amongst the most vulnerable it’s possible to imagine. But here she is, a single woman with 55 young girls making a huge difference.

You know, if these girls we already on the streets and this was a work to rescue them it would not be hard to raise funds for it. But because this partnership prevents the girls ending up on the streets, hardly anyone wants to know about it. Western Christians need a bomb under them. The really difficult work of transforming communities and planting churches and addressing mind sets that create brothels and trafficking is very difficult to sell to most people who are chasing the next gimmick. The issue is not merely issues like trafficking, lack of water or education. The real issue is that of addressing the mind sets that create the need, to address the poverty mind set. These mind sets see whole villages of people living with all the resources to be productive and to feed their own families and educate them, yet they die of starvation.

There are no quick fixes to the big issues. But there are long terms solutions that most just don’t want to know about, let alone fund. Most do it so they can feel good or tick of another success story. I’m sorry, it’s much more complex than that and people like Primala are the key. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year for many years they just turn up and serve, and lead and inspire. And change happens. In the meantime, we Westerners have moved on a number of time times following the newest fads.

Thursday we flew to Delhi, a very different place to Siliguri. Friday was a day trip Jaipur checking out a partnership opportunity and also doing some tourist stuff. I have to say it’s one of the more impressive tourist locations I’ve been to.

Saturday we travelled about 2 hours north east of Delhi to visit another new partner working in a very dangerous area. People who follow a different prophet are turning in large numbers to Christ. He is doing a phenomenal work with his family and team. We’ll be starting something with them soon, very inspiring but we can’t say much about it. Again, they are doing the hard yards, little support, hard to find those willing to partner with him.

Sunday was a little quieter, church, chatting with the team, writing some reports, saying goodbye to Peter and Anne who are winging their way to New Zealand as I write. And, in the evening, between the internet coming and going, we barely survived the All Black game against Ireland.

Today we have a number of meetings with the team at Delhi Bible Institute, our major partner in North India. We’ll be reviewing the last year and making plans for the future. Then, this evening Rob Purdue leaves for New Zealand and tomorrow morning James and Nicky with Lucy and I head off to Nepal.

It’s the last leg of the trip. Really missing home. It’s been good to be able to skype some of the family. December and January are going to be quieter months…… do I hear Helen cheering.

Helen is helping with family stuff and at our local church with some end of year activities and meeting with friends. So, she’s happy, but we’re missing each other.

Warm regards and Happy Christmas season.

Kevin and Helen


HOME again

2013-11-26 to 2013-12-02

Hey there, I’m home…..

Man it could not come quick enough towards the end. Not that I wasn’t still inspired by the amazing people we were visiting and working with.

There were a number of flights towards the end of trip, some interesting ones. Here’s a summary:

Flight 13 – Thursday 21st November, Bagdogra Airport (Siliguri) to Delhi – just over 2 hours, Boeing 737, Spicejet 885. Sat beside Anne, one of the team members, actually she stole my seat by the window! The Spicejet plane was on time and the airport in Delhi is pretty nice.

Flight 14 – Friday 22nd – early, too early. We flew from Delhi to Jaipur, just under an hour. Another Boeing 737, Spicejet flight 133. It arrived on time and we headed off to see the proposed site for a new Ashram (where disciples come to learn from the guru.) Delhi Bible Institute is establishing a string of them across North India.

Flight 15 – Friday 22nd – Jet Airways 726, back to Delhi. We saw some amazing sights in Jaipur, I was surprised by the place, quite stunning the wealth of those Maharajas back in the day. Another Boeing 727-800 and again I was beside Anne, arrived back at Delhi just after 8:00 pm and we caught the underground / metro.

Over the weekend Rob Purdue and Peter and Anne left us so on Tuesday 26th James, Nicky, Lucy and I boarded Flight 16 – Indigo Airlines 31, Delhi to Kathmandu. It was an Airbus A320 and took a little under 2 hours. Managed to have some room and read most of the way.

Flight 17 – the next day, Wednesday the 27th, Kathmandu to Bharatpur. It was on an ATR 42, Buddha Air flight 351 seat 3a, just James and I with our partner Niranjan. It’s only a 20 minute flight east from Kathmandu. We didn’t get above the mountains we were flying below.

We spent just 2 ½ hours there visiting the partnership. It’s great to see the development of the farming co-operative and the chicken layers and broilers. This funds many different projects from loans, to training to resources for church planters.

Flight 18 was the return flight on Buddha Air 356 on a Beechcraft 1900d, 19 passengers. We arrived back as the sun set over the Himalayas. Stunning.

We spent the next day with Niranjan and Sonu as we talked through all the developments. We ate beautiful food as well. That night Flight 19 took me on Fly Dubai, FZ576, 5 ½ hours to Dubai in a Boeing 737-800. The plane was packed with workers going to the Middle East to work. Some could speak a little English and I had the feeling that they had no idea about what they were really going to. I am appalled at the way people are being abused and taken advantage of in these countries, it’s an international crime. I arrived in Dubai and the lines were miles long. I had booked a night in a hotel and the rep was there to meet me. He whisked me through Immigration, what a relief.

Flight 20 was the long, 15 hour leg from Dubai to Melbourne. Emirates, EK406. Seat 44A, near the front and on the aisle. The A380 was packed and I sat beside an older couple from Scotland going to visit family in Australia.

The second leg of the same flight took off 3 hours late. Fortunately there happened to be a friend on the flight so we had time to chat and catch up. I hope she settles well back in NA after 6 years in Tanzania.

So, home, it’s been a long year, more than half the year out of the country. So, now it’s time to rest a little and catch up on family. Helen has had her hands full with family stuff. We’re planning for next year but there will be less travel. It’s been great to see our team growing so we’re handing over things to them. That has already meant fewer e-mails and from next year, less travel.

I cannot believe the impact our partners are having. And, we want to thank you for being with us this year.

Christmas time, God has come, with us! Yea.

Kevin and Helen.


Time to go

2014-02-11

Friends, this is us signing back in for another year.Where did December and January go!

There has been plenty going on over summer and we're really rapt to have had a great time with family over Christmas and New Year and good times with our field team in Nelson in January. 

There has been a lot of planning going on to for the year and it's looking pretty interesting. We're planning to do less travelling this year and to decrease it further over the the next  few years. Getting a bit old for this! In the middle of it all we managed to celebrate 40 years of marriage. Told you we were getting old. 

There is still plenty going on and on tomorrow Kevin is off to Asia and Helen follows in about 10 days. Here's a bit of an outline of the next 44 days.

Tomorrow Kevin heads off to Thailand with a team of 18 people from 3 new Zealand churches. After a couple of days in Bangkok it's up into Chiang Mai and the hilltribe border with Myanmar (Burma.) A week sleeping on the floor isn't really something to look forward to, but the outcome will be great. Building 2 kindergartens and a water project in a couple of very rural villages. 

On the 24th February, Kevin's birthday, Helen arrives in Chiang Mai. Then it's a couple of days around Chiang Mai and then across Thailand to Pakse in Laos. We've got a couple of partners there and we'll spend 4 days  with them and meeting the people they work with. 

Then it's back to Bangkok for 3 days visiting partners and hopefully getting a visa for Myanmar. If we get them we'll spend a couple of weeks in Myanmar. The country is much more open now and we'll be traveliing out into the rural areas where we haven't been allowed to go before. 

Most of this time Mark and Emma Stokes will be travelling with us. They are becoming more involved with our partners now and we're handing over to them. There will be a lot of introductions and discussions as well as interviews and reporting and some great meals.

On the 19th March we head over to the Philippines to meet our partners and we get back to NZ on the 26th March. 

Over the next few weeks we'll try to keep you up to date and show a few pictures as well. There are lots of flights and kms by road so would appeciate your prayers. We really need you to start up again and follow and if you have a few minutes, drop us a note on the blog?

Love to all

Helen and Kevin 


early mornings

2014-02-16

it's been a few days of early starts, this morning being no different. But it's been an interesting time settling the team into Thailand. We spent two nights in Bangkok visiting a partner, Rahab Ministries, and a canal cruise. The team were very challenged by the situation that Rahad is dealing with. So many girls, 4,000 in 2 streets, and so many sleeze ball tourists we have some interesting discussions helping the team process it all. 

The team is made up of 4 people from Mt. Albert Baptist Church, 3 from CBC church in Hamilton and 11 from St Andrews Churchm Wiapukurau, 18 of them. 

We left Bangkok early Saturday morning and negotiated 3 train changes to the airport, interesting with so many people, and flew on to Chiang Mai. We had the afternoon briefing about the trip into the bush and then Sunday doing some tourist stuff. Now, it's early Monday morning and we're about to get on the vehicles and head into the bush. 

i'm going to be out of touch for a week, not even cell phone coverage so it's going to continue to be quiet from me. 

Helen has had a great weekend with Sara and Ruth and a couple of the grandchildren. It's been great and it's been running around and loving them. In a week she'll be on the way here, yea.

Thanks for following and praying. I'm not feeling great for this last day. I've got a really bad throat and don't feel great going onto the bush with it. So, I'd value your prayers. 

Love

Kevin 


Laos and about

2014-02-17 to 2014-02-27

OK, so it’s been a while, I realise that. I do have a few excuses:

To tell the truth, it’s been all of the above and Helen and I are now both in Pakse in Central / South Laos. The time with the team in Bangkok and Chiang Mai and then into the bush was stimulating, inspiring and very tiring. Sleeping on the floor, starting work at 6:00 a.m., mixing concrete by hand and bucket, cold showers and squat toilets all catch up with you after a while.  Right now I’m pretty tired and having a cough all the way through hasn’t helped either.

But, we’re coming right and improving by the day. It’s great to have Helen back and traveling with me again after not being on all of the trips last year. It sure makes traveling a lot less stressful. Also, Mark and Emma Stokes are traveling with us. They are picking up more responsibility for Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. It’s great to see them engaging with the partners and getting a real handle on what’s going on here.

We have one partner here in Laos. We spent time with them today checking out the training programs they are running here, mainly English but a couple of others as well. It’s very inspiring really. This is a strongly communist country still, hammer and sickles abound on flags. But people are open to learn and gain knowledge. It was fun to participate in an English language class last night.

We’re also investigating another partner who is involved in helping settle poor farmers in new areas to grow coffee. They are part of a 3 year training program and some of them after graduating head off to new areas to farm. The area that the next group are going is over in the West of the country and it used to be part of the Hi Chi Minh trail. It is still full of unexploded ordinance which has to be cleared before farming can commence. It’s an expensive job and we’re looking at how we can help. Anyone want a bomb clearing job for a month or two!?

Today we heard a number of stories of total transformation in a country where there is great oppression and opposition. You can’t suppress and you certainly can’t frustrate God’s plans when he wants to do something. I have to be careful what we say as this is possibly under scrutiny and we don’t want to compromise the work our friends are doing here.

We’ve got two more sleeps here before we head back to Bangkok for 3 nights and then over to Myanmar. I’ll try not to have too many excuses next time and report in on time!

lots of love


Pakse and Bangkok

2014-02-28 to 2014-03-04

We had a good time in Laos, really like the people we are working with. It was great to hear more stories about how lives are being changed and developed and how they are going back to their communities to bring further change.

There are more than 300 people learning English in the programme, the reason it’s so popular is the number of Western young people there teaching English. There were 4 young, just out of secondary school kiwis there. It was fun to hang out with them a little. Every year they need a bunch of people to go for a year. You might like to do that? They go to Thailand for a couple of weeks training on the way in and then in Laos for a year. It’s a pretty cool thing to do I reckon. They are also training local people to bake and to become domestic workers.

We had some lovely meals in Pakse, we really liked Lao food. Saturday afternoon we drove out of town a way to visit the home of one of the Lao staff. In the village her mother lives in a lot people work and display the various cultures of Lao tribes, quite interesting. We hung out there for a couple of hours and explored the area and the waterfall. Some of the hand weaving was amazing.

On Sunday we went to church with about 50 English speakers, mainly from overseas, people working in Laos. Then we jumped into the back of a ute and drove to the border with Thailand, left Laos, entered Thailand and drove another hour to the city of Ubon Ratchathani. There we caught at plane to Bangkok, then a bus to the BTS (light train) station and then a 30 minute ride on the train to the centre of Bangkok and then a 10 minute walk to the hotel. We passed the last camp of protesters in Bangkok at Lumpini Park. We were staying at the Bangkok Christian Guesthouse for a couple of nights, right in Silom area, centre city.

It’s a good place for getting around, near the trains and cheap restaurants and one of our partners. Early Monday morning we were up and off to the Myanmar Embassy to get visas. We got there by 8:00 a.m. and were about 40th in line. We filled out the forms, attached our photos and waited till 9:00. The doors opened and we went in waited in line, there must have been 200 – 300 people in the line, handed in the passports for checking, got our little number tag, lined up again and paid our money, about $50. We were out of there about 9:30 and back on another train to MBK, the big shopping mall. Mark Stokes wanted to buy a camera while he was here so he went off and looked at them, Helen bought a cover for her phone, we had lunch and then back to the hotel to catch up on a few e-mails and other bits and pieces. Emma and Mark went back to the Embassy at 3:30 and picked up our passports, visas approved.

The food around this area is pretty good. You can get a really nice Thai meal for $2, although we are pretty much over rice for every meal. Tuesday we went over to our partner in Patpong, Rahab Ministries. They are rescuing women from prostitution from the bars. They do it by making friends with the girls, it’s a long term programme. They told us of one woman who had just become a follower of Jesus after 30 years of working in this area. An amazing story. It was lovely to spend a couple of hours with Voranuch and Prai and hear their love for these women. This is an area set up for bars for tourists, local men are not allowed to go into the bars. It’s a hang-over from the Vietnam War…. Well done you guys!

We got back to the hotel, checked out, got some lunch while Mark went off to buy his camera. Then at 3:00 we went off in a taxi to the North of Bangkok, to Muangthang church. We’re staying in the church, they have some rooms for this and today, Wednesday, we meet two more partners. Chuenjit is coming at 11:00, she runs a half-way house for young people leaving prison. Many are in there for drugs, underage sex and petty crime. She runs programmes in the prison, takes them in and helps rehabilitate them back to their families. In the process many of them find Jesus.

Then John and Nok come at 1:00 and we have lunch and a couple of hours with them. I’ll tell you about them next blog.

At 4:30 we head to the airport for our flight to Yangon in Myanmar. This area is one of the protest areas where people have been killed so it’s a little tense, taxi drivers don’t like coming here. The protesters are now leaving and concentrating in the centre of the city. So, hopefully there will be no holdups on the way to the airport.

Next time we’ll be coming to you from Myanmar. Mark and Emma have been unwell with throat and chest issues like I had earlier. So, you could pray for them. Myanmar is going to be busy with a lot of partners to visit and stuff to sort out.

Love to all

Kevin and Helen


The Royal White Elephant

2014-03-05 to 2014-03-12

We’ve just got back from a day out around Yangon. It’s hot, really hot and sticky, around 37 degrees C and high humidity. I can’t imagine how hot it will be in a couple of months.

About a week has passed since our last communique, here’s a summary of the last few days:

Yesterday was Helen’s birthday, not a lot we could do but we had fun and she seemed to enjoy her day. It’s one of the stranger places to celebrate a birthday. Today we were able to  skype our daughter Sara and her little Coco. That was lovely.  Emma left us as well  and we will miss her.

Tomorrow we head off to Laputta in the Irrawaddy Delta, it’s a 9 hour bus ride. We’ll spend a couple of nights there meeting partners we’ve been supporting for a few years. Then we do the 9 hours back again on Saturday. So, probably no internet for a few days. It’s not a part that many tourists go to, a bit off the beaten track and no beaches, just mangrove swamps evidently. We’ll find out soon I guess. Mark heads north to Kalemyo for a couple of days as well scoping out some new opportunities.

It’s about bedtime so I’d better get this uploaded while we’ve still got internet, it comes and goes at the Royal White Elephant.

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen


the giant and the Chinese lady

2014-03-13 to 2014-03-17

It’s about time to move on again. This time tomorrow we’ll be in Bangkok for one night and then it’s on to the Philippines. So we have to pack again and get organised. We’ll say goodbye to the Royal White Elephant and find ourselves in new digs.

Last time we were planning to head off to Laputta out on the Irrawaddy Delta. This  town was devastated by Hurricane Nargis in 2008 and about 70,000 people died in the region. It sits on the edge of one of the channels of the Irrawaddy River. Nargis is the reference point out there. But, I’ll let Helen fill you in on the trip there and back.

We got a pleasant surprise early on Thursday morning to find our bus trip to Laputta was in a mini bus, nothing like our experience on African buses. Very modern and clean, it had a high roof and air con. There were only 6 passengers so we could spread out. We left the inner city at 7am - very interesting and challenging, busy, busy roads - two lanes become 4 lanes - hundreds of cyclists risking their lives weaving in and out of traffic, no helmets and most motor cyclists were the same.

It was interesting  to see the very poor and the developed city merge together. Heaps of bamboo shacks on stilts built on sides of rivers and drains. I imagine there would be heaps of mozzies and so hot and stcky.

Most of the way it was like being on a mini roller coaster, we bounced around holding on, horns beeping all the time as often the road was just one and car width with  buses and trucks racing by and along the usual pedestrians, cyclists, cattle drawn carts, tractor driven transport etc.

The rivers here are huge. We went across the longest bridge we’ve ever crossed. Lots of rice growing and prawn ponds, life is very simple and basic as we sat and watched it all. Lots of temples with ugly idols.

Road works for ages slowed it all down. It was very sad to see how hard locals work doing so much manual work on the roads using small hammers to break up huge rocks for road foundations. Also some  kids were  helping, no gloves, some bare feet and others jandals. Not hats, so hot. Pouring hot tar by hand in a container that looked like a watering can. No hot showers to go home to, no massages, hand lotion, cold drinks…

The road foundations were not that level so more roller coaster roads being made.

We finally reached our Guest house at 4pm pleasantly surprised to find a comfortable room, running water and working loo.

We had a wash and a  60 minute rest and then off to meet our friends out there. We travelled with a young man, Piang Paiang, 24 years old with good English. His family were lovely and have a home which has a church under it. We had a yummy meal and then met with the church. About 40 people came, we greeted and sang and then Kevin spoke to them. Neighbours throw stones on their roof and fence if they sing too late at night so we had to finish by 7:00 p.m.!

Afterwards we did greetings  and then  it was back to the Best Guest House to collapse and sleep. We had air con, unfortunately it was set to 16 degrees C and pointed straight on our bed and we had no remote, so we had to turn it off.

We had some funny times with transport. The first ride was arranged for Kevin and I to go on a bicycle rickshaw with two seats attached on the side. Of course it was impossible for Kevin to fit on the seat and I only just got on doing side-saddle. The poor wee driver only weighed about 55kgs! Kevin caught a motorbike.

Friday morning we both had motor bike rides, everyone stared at us. Nice breakfast, rice and eggs then off to see boats at the wharf and walk around the huge market with fish, meat, chickens, chillies, water melons…..

Then off to visit a family from church needing prayer. Kevin was asked to share encouraging Bible verses and then we prayed. After the obligatory green tea it was back to the family home.

Mid morning about 10 of us jumped into a tractor motor driven vehicle with a canopy and two bench seats and off we went, rocking and rolling on a 30 minute ride. They took us to some land where they have started a little church in a very poor community caught up in demon possession and fear. The first convert was a man who used to be a monk and another was a fortune teller. Some of the stories were very impacting. So many are ruled by fear and that has all gone now.

There’s a big tree near the little church which the community people said was infected with demons and people would die who go near it. Already they said 10 people had died there. The new Christians killed a big snake and a big black cat and ate them. The local people were convinced someone would die but they didn’t. They shared about Jesus and now lots of people want to know about this Jesus.

Kids get married young in these rural areas. Kids that are not in school get bored so one girl we met was 14 and married to a 16yr old!

There was no transport to take us  back and had  to wait on side of road for a long time. Eventually a motorbike came along and Kevin sent me off so I could get back and wash and have a rest. I had a very sore back. So off I went, we ended up in the middle of town and our guest house was on outskirts of town and driver didn’t speak English. YIKES, help Lord?

I saw a policeman and I tried to talk about our Guest House and the driver went off to another hotel. So back to policeman and this time the right directions. Phew!

A yummy lunch at our friends home, lots vegies, shrimps and chicken. In the afternoon we interviewed 5 kids who live with our friends.

I then stayed back for a bed rest while Kev went off for two more visits to people’s homes. I sat outside and watched kids playing games and showed some of  them family  videos and photos from my phone. Then another delicious meal.

After we arrived in Laputta we found out our return bus trip would be Friday night at 7pm not Saturday morning, it was going to be a big bus! We presumed the worst thinking it would be an old rattletrap. Another surprise, it was a new modern bus with aircon and seats like an aeroplane that tilt back, overhead lights and adjustable air. We both snoozed a bit on the trip. It rode comfortably over the bumpy roads and we finally got back to hotel in Yangon and settled into a room at 4.00 a.m.

We loved our visit and appreciated what they are doing in the community. There is a deep work going on out there very impressive.

People thought Kevin was a huge giant and I was Chinese!!


TIRED!!

2014-03-18 to 2014-03-23

Last Tuesday we managed to leave Myanmar after two weeks on the ground. Wow, there is a lot to recall, I’m not looking forward to the reports I’ve got to write now. It was great to have Mark and Emma Stokes with us (they can write some of the reports) and to meet a couple of potential new partners.

We flew out of Yangon early in the morning and apart from the great people, we left having eaten some awesome food as well. In reading and talking to people it became more obvious to us what our focus in Myanmar should be. Two areas, one in the area of people working amongst Buddhist people and second, up in the hills of the north where there is a huge poverty. The plan is to introduce our agriculture people and the Foundations for Farming programme.

The north on Myanmar is a huge area full of problems. The bulk of the heroin in the world is produced there and exported out through Thailand, many of the illegal hard drug components come from here as well, there are still conflicts going on between the military and local ethnic militias and then there is the “green harvest” of young women. Young girls, particularly Shan girls because they have fairer skin, are taken out to Thailand but mainly China by the truck load. It’s a “green” harvest because the girls are young…..

We were reminded of this on our last day in Yangon when we went out to the poorest part of the city to meet a potential new partner. They have a number of women and children in their programmes who were taken off to another country, tricked into a “job,” some of them “married” and then abandoned. It’s a shocking reality that this is such a common issue.

Tuesday we overnighted in Bangkok and then on Wednesday flew to Manila in the Philippines. The last few days have been a bit of a blur to be frank. We flew out to Legazpi an hour south east of Manila on Thursday and spent two nights in a rural barrio. It’s was great to be going a little slower, hanging out with a great family we have been partnering with for around 15 years. We told lots of stories, did a couple of short Bible teaching sessions, visited a group of people who are starting a new little local church in a small village and talked to a bunch of keen Christian young people late into the night.  Helen loved spending time in the bamboo bedroom and the crazy humour of the Filipina people we stayed with.

Then on the way back to the airport Saturday we visited a church built by the Spanish in 1580 something and then destroyed by a volcano in 1814. The tower is still there but crumbling, so is the volcano still flaring up from time to time. The Mayan volcano is a perfect cone, a beautiful piece of landscape. This church was around 230 years old when it was destroyed in the same year that the Christian message was first preached in New Zealand. Kind of puts New Zealand’s European history into some kind of perspective.

Just after midday as we were waiting for the plane to leave from Legazpi it poured with rain, first rain I’ve seen for more than 6 weeks. We flew into Manila and spent the rest of the day meeting a partner and travelling out to Baliuag city. Today, Sunday we’ll go to church and meet a bunch of young people who are getting scholarships to University and other training.

Then we head back into Manila for two more nights before we head off home on Tuesday. All the travel on rough roads is catching up with us. We’re tired and sore and ready to get home and can’t wait to be in our own bed. We’ve tried to think of all the different types of transport on this trip, it’s been pretty varied:

It’s been an interesting trip, so much to process, so many things to think about and make decisions about - wisdom required in truckloads.

Thanks for hanging in there with us. 

love 

Helen and Kevin


Lost and found

2014-03-24 to 2014-04-01

Ha, we're home and glad about it really. There were times on the trip we wondered if it would ever end, But it did and you know, as soon as you get home and you don't have to pack a bag tomorrow or get on another bus or a plane, you miss it. Wierd. 

Our last 3 days in Manila were great. When we last wrote it was from Baliuag on a Sunday. We had an awesome time in a new church full of young people who come from a squatter area. The people there run a scholarship programme for promising young people and it was great to meet them, worship with them and hear a little of their story. it was inpsiring to hear of their dreams and aspirations and to meet some who had graduated from College and who now had jobs, good jobs. The older ones were more confident, the others quite shy and afraid to use their English.

After church we spent some time with the key people, Arnold and Ruth and heard more about them, lovely people. They are pouring their lives into these young people. Very inspiring. After lunch they took us into Quezon city and dropped us off at a bus. We rode for 45 minutes back to Taytay and met our man Vic. 

We were expecting to stay in a hotel, but on arrival some NZ friends had told Vic we could stay with them for the remianing 2 nights of our trip. So we did, better that a hotel. So, there was lots of chatting kiwi style and mangoes for Helen, she's the mango queen!

The Monday saw us visiting a partner who had just had a stroke. Elvin is still a young man and had a 3rd stroke while we were in the Philippines. Sad to see a young guy struggling so much. We visited and chatted the team we work with in the Philippines, really nice people helping people all over the Philippines find relationship with God. We laughed a lot, love the Filipino sense of humour. We ate some lovely meals too thanks to Mar and Vida. 

All in all it was an interesting time in the Philippines. Our partners seem to be in good spirits and are achieving their goals and loving the partnership we have with them. These guys are pretty much onto it and don't need us to be there often, suits us fine.

So, early Tuesday morning we headed off to the airport and into the Thai Airways lounge to wait for boarding. "sir, can I see your Gold card," the very pleasant lady asked as we entered, "Sure" I said as I reached for my wallet........ Oh no where is it. frantic searching through the bags yielded nothing. A quick trot back to the security, back through Immigration, back to the termial fee place out to the information desk, nothing!

Back through security 3 more times with extra bag scans to check it wasn't hiding, nothing. after about an hour we gave up and rang NZ to cancel our credit cards. What a pain. Driving licence, firearms licence and a a few other cards. 

We boarded the plane,  just over 3 hours to Bangkok. that wallet has been in my trouser pocket for about 40 days, every day it was there. now i felt almost naked without it. Onto the plane to Auckland, popped a little pill and slept for 8 1/2 of the 12 hours flight, Helen didn't!

We were picked up around midday Wednesday by our lovely daughter in law Ruthie and taken to her place to play with the kids, nice. Then home, our place, our bed. Sleep. 

The next few days have been a blur, cancelling and reordering cards, travelling to Hamilton, 2 hours south on Saturday to a missions seminar, Didn't have much to do but it was nice to catch up with a lot of friends and colleagues. Home that evening, into bed and I woke up at 11:15 the next morning. I'm over jetlag!

Today, Tuesday we're heading off to do a few things and Helen is pottering around getting some bits and pieces together and guess what, there was my wallet, inside my bag! What a pain. How could it be? We had tipped that bag out 3 or 4 times, we put it 3 times through an airport x-ray machine after emptying it out and nothing. There it was, large as life with all the old cards in it!! Who would be a traveller.

Well, life goes on. Tomorrow we head off to Christchurch for 8 days. Next weekend is our bi-annual Summit for partners of Bright Hope. Then it's catching up with the staff and our team and making a few more plans. it doesn't stop, life goes on, the world is a busy place and our partners are turing it upside down. 

We sure apprecaited your prayers and messages along the way.

Lots of love,

Helen and Kevin. 


Ready for lift off

2014-06-10

It’s the middle of June and the travel season is on us again. Last night we had huge winds here at our place, 145 km / hour and we thought we had already taken off. But, we’re unaffected; it might slow the trip to the airport this afternoon.

Just a note to sign in again as we head off again for a few weeks. We’re planning to be away till the 18th August, just under 10 weeks. It’s too long really. On Friday we heard that our son Jared and family, Ruth, Hugo (5) and Joel (1) will be shifting to the USA and might be gone by the time we get back. It was a bit of a shock over the weekend as we said goodbye to realise it could be months before we see them again.

Anyway, it’s part of the cost of doing what we do. We’re sure going to miss them and Sara, Karl and Coco (9 months,) she’ll almost be a year old when we get back.

I’ll give you a bit of a summary of this trip and over the next few weeks will fill in the adventures we have and the people we meet.

Today we head off to Thailand for a week with 3 church leaders from an Auckland church. We’re going up into the border of Thailand and Myanmar to check out opportunities there for a few days and then we come back to visit our partners around Bangkok. While I’m doing that, Helen will be in Cambodia, visiting some friends there and getting a couple of jobs done on her teeth as well.

Then it’s across to Ethiopia for a week. Our good friend John Stanley from Chase Oaks church meets us there and we spend 6 days checking out partners in the rural border areas along the Sudan border and then up to Gondar to visit the widows and blind students we’re working with and the school that is being built to generate income there.

After that it’s down to Uganda. We have a week with a team from another US church in a village working with a school. The village is as poor as it gets and we’ll be doing medical clinics, teaching teachers and painting a school building and some other bits and pieces.

Then for 4 days Kevin will head over to Bunia in the D R Congo to visit partners while Helen stays in Entebbe, Uganda. That will be across a weekend.

Then it’s back to Uganda for a 10 day trip around most of our partners with 3 people from a partner church in the USA. That will see us travel about 1,000 km with a lot of stops along the way. By this time we will be around the 18th July and on the 19th we travel to Kenya and will be based around Nairobi the whole time. We’ll have a week there with our partners.

Then we head off to Zimbabwe for a week. We’ll visit partners around Harare and then it’s by bus to Bulawayo. After that it’s over to South Africa, a weekend off and then to Nelspruit to check out a new partnership opportunity.

On the 8th August we fly out of South Africa to Pakistan where we have 9 days and then it’s home, the 18th August. So, it’s a bit of a trek really. Lots to see and do, lots of conversations and discussions and lot’s to listen to and learn.

If you pray then there are a few points:

We’re going to be in some hotspots, Thailand, Congo, Kenya and Pakistan are not safe countries – please pray for safety.

We have teams with us and when we have them there are extra responsibilities and pressures – please pray for patience and sensitivity.

We’re going to get tired – please pray for strength.

OK, seat belts on, we’re off in an hour!

Love

Kevin and Helen


Hill country travels

2014-06-11 to 2014-06-15

Sitting on a plane from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Helen is in Cambodia. We tried to chat this morning on Skype, but not a lot of success.

The last few days have been a blur really, a lot of travel and some amazing people. We flew from Auckland last Wednesday and arrived in Bangkok at 1:00 am Thursday. We went through Sydney. We were travelling with Mark, Brad and Owen from Botany Life church in Auckland. The purpose is to check out the Bright Hope World partners in Thailand with a view to them partnering with us there.

We overnighted in Bangkok and then next morning Helen flew off to Cambodia and the rest of us went North to Chiang Mai. We were met by the ITDP team and after booking into the hotel, we spent the afternoon at ITDP with Mike Mann. He talked us through the ITDP philosophy and plied us with way too much coffee, all for the purpose of making we understood things well!

We then went back to the hotel and spent the evening preparing to leave in the morning and some of the local food, pretty good too.

Early Friday morning we boarded our home for the next 2 ½ days, Mike’s Toyota 4WD. We drove for 7 hours to Ma Oh Jo village, southwest from Chiang Mai in Om Koi District. We dumped out wet luggage in the village we were staying at then drove another hour into the village of Kree Mo Kee. This is the village I had been at for a week in February building a kindergarten. We were able to meet the new teacher there and some of the kids, we got there just after most of the kids had left.

It was lovely to meet Apaporn, the teacher. She is a vibrant, likeable little lady in her early 30s, my guess. She’s been working there for a month only but already the kids love her and the village has accepted her well.

Then it was back to the village, arriving just before dark, 6:00. We looked around the school and then went down to the village. We ate and slept that night in Ma Oh Jo, an experience for the guys from Auckland. We woke early to the sound of roosters, pigs and kids. Then it was into Mike’s vehicle again, chains on the two vehicles and off we went, it had been raining all night. It was rough going for the first 15kms and then it was fine.

We drove for 8 hours to get to the village of Huay Hon. Interesting story. About 80 years ago missionaries came into this village with the Good News and agriculture. Now, 100% of the people are Christians and it is self sustaining economically. Our partners are working with them in coffee, they supplies 18 tonnes last year and micro-loans. It’s a really interesting place. It’s become a tourist village with homestays and because it was the first village in Thailand to supply Starbucks and because they have sheep. While there we gave them a few pointers about sheep and have been asked to go back and do some more with them – did you hear that John Vlaming! John is our agriculture guy.

We stayed the night in the village, that evening about 25 of the villagers gathered and we had a conversation with them. It rained all night and about 9:00 the next morning we head back to Chiang Mai. We were intending to visit a school, but the road was washed out. Another 5 hours and a few stops for coffee and we were back in Chiang Mai, shower…..

We spent the evening debriefing and watching a replay of the All Blacks rugby test with England!

Thailand is buzzing with the World Cup. The army, which recently took over the country has announced that the Football World Cup would be free to everyone and they are showing free movies so bring happiness to the people. This is a strange place!

Things of note:

Have a great week

Kevin and Helen


Partners in Bangkok

2014-06-16 to 2014-06-18

When you look them in the eye, they quickly look away. I don’t know why, but there seems to be a fair amount of shame involved. You see them in the airport in Bangkok and more of them in the streets around Patpong. They are mainly over 60 and here for a good time!

We spent Monday afternoon with the team at Rahab ministries in the heart of the tourist sex area of Bangkok. It’s set up just for that, well they wouldn’t say that, but it is. As you walk around touts are constantly in your face offering, “you want sex show?” They can’t understand that we’re not interested, strange, why else would we be there. They can’t get their heads around it. We explain we would close it down if we have the power but they just smile their dopey smiles and ask again!

I’m sitting at the airport in Bangkok as I write this, waiting for Helen. She flies into Bangkok in a few minutes and then we go on to Ethiopia. They are swarming all over here too, old men with girls hanging off them saying last goodbyes after their week or two in Thailand. The girls smile and cry and wave goodbye as they tear themselves apart at Departures and then go down to Arrivals to wait for the next poor old sucker who thinks she’s been saving herself for him!

As we travelled we talked about this. What would you say if you were in a room with 3 old western men and they were talking about their sexual exploits? How would you feel? You know, sometimes I just feel like smacking them and sending them home with a broken leg. Other times I just feel like using something about the size of a baseball bat. But at the end of the day, they are lost, lonely, disillusioned old men who are trying to make sense of life and who need someone to love and to love them. The fact that they think sex is the key to their happiness makes them no worse or better than any of us who are seeking sources of pleasure and contentment in places that don’t have to the ability to deliver.

You just have to feel sorry for them I guess and for the people whose lives they are messing up.

I flew with the team from Chiang Mai to Bangkok last Monday morning and after spending time with the Rahab guys we wandered around the “night markets” and observed the blatant sexuality. We didn’t hang around for long, it’s just horrible. Really in your face and horrible. And the old guys and just sit around half-out-of-it with girls the age of their grand-daughters who are taking their money off them like candy off a baby. Wow, what a great time!

Anyway, enough of the cynicism. Tuesday and Wednesday went by in a blur. Tuesday morning we visited a group of local young people trying to introduce Thai children to Jesus. Then we visited a little lady, Chuen Jit who cares for young teenagers caught up in the justice system and the Prasert who just loves kids and is pouring her live into many of them. They are so inspiring with passion and tenacity.

Wednesday we spent the morning hearing the stories of life change in the rural provinces of Thailand as a team of church planters go out to train local people. I cannot even begin to tell the stories of God at work in the lives of so many.

So, now I sit in the airport waiting for Helen to arrive. She should have landed by now at the other airport in town. She has to clear Immigration and catch a bus over to this airport. That could take some time as it’s rush hour traffic time in Bangkok.

Then, at 1:35 a.m. tomorrow we fly out to Dubai, 6 hours.

We then wait for 6 hours and catch a 3 hour flight to Addis Ababa and hopefully rest for a few hours before we are joined by John Stanley from the USA. We’re gonna be really bushed 24 hours from now.

There goes another guy, I guess about 70, about 5 foot five, 20 stone, shirt open to his navel with gold chains around his neck and a dark tan and a girl that looks like she’s about 18! Stop it Kevin.

Hang in there guys. We love having you on board with us, even if it gets a bit over the top at times.

Ethiopia here we come.

Kevin and Helen.


a long way for a sermon

2014-06-19 to 2014-06-25

We’ve been in Ethiopia for 6 days and it seems like yesterday we arrived. In a sense it’s been a little less intense than the time in Thailand, but we’ve covered a lot of ground.

We spent the first day waiting in Addis Ababa for john Stanley from Chase oaks Church, in Plano, Texas to arrive. We arrived in  the afternoon and he flew in later that evening. Early next  morning we flew up to Gonder on the north and met our good friend and partner Worku Tafete. We spent that day making plans and looking around at what he’s been doing since we were last here 6 months ago.

My word, what an amazing thing he is doing, I’ll put up some photos. John, Worku and Kevin left Gonder early Saturday morning to go get a first-hand look at what is going on in  the Gumuz area of Ethiopia, near the town of Gilgel Beles. It’s a really  and  beautiful area, only recently developing. The  government is building a huge dam in the area on the Nile River.

It took 10 hours of maniacal driving to get there with a number of breakdowns. The worst part was the thought we would have to go all the way back again. We got there in the evening and checked into the most salubrious establishment in town, $8 a night! The next day we went to church, Kevin had to preach, about 100 people there. Context – not one of these people was a Christian 2 years ago.

Now the  whole area is turning to faith in Christ. But there are immense issues to deal with. The major one is that these people are being dispossessed of the land they thought was theirs sine Adam and Eve. The government is villagising them. A few years ago, I mean 5 or 6, these people didn’t even wear clothes. Now they live with strangers in towns and villages. The sense of loss and disempowerment is almost palpable. They are finding faith in a living God, but that doesn’t feed or educate them or prepare them for engagement with corrupt officials. So, it was a pretty interesting time out there but a  way to go for a 30 minute sermon! Mind you, there were two interpreters working hard to try and work out what I was saying!

So, Sunday afternoon we started  back with the intention of staying half way back to Gonder. Good plan, but the 6 hours became 7 due to a bung shock absorber, a rain downpour  and broken windscreen wiper and a driver who went as slow and careful as possible on the rough roads and who drove like a demented banshee on the good roads. We got to Bahir Dar for the night and collapsed into a soft and springy old bed. who cares, we were still alive.

The next morning the driver turned up an hour late and we headed back to Gonder, safe! You don’t take that for granted. Helen made a good call, she stayed back in Gonder while the boys spent 2 ½ days on the road!

Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wed a.m. we spent visiting some of the projects, talking with Worku and making plans. This included:

  1. A vulnerable old peoples care centre where people come for a meal every day. My goodness, they are poor
  2. The site of another poverty, care, feeding programme that will start in a few weeks
  3. A kindergarten and school that will provide local resources to carry on the other programmes
  4. A scholarship program for blind kids. They are taught to read braille and then they go to secondary school where they go to the top of every class they attend – inspiring.

Now we are sitting for 8 hours in Addis airport having flown this afternoon from Gonder. We fly out at 10:20 tonight for Entebbe in Uganda, arriving at 35 minutes after midnight. 21 hours later a team of  9  arrive  from the USA  and we start the next adventure, 6 days in a village on the shore of Lake Victoria.

We appreciate your prayers for safety and health….so far we are doing OK.

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen


6 days in Katosi

2014-06-26 to 2014-07-05

Good intentions to write more often have failed again. But then you’re probably glad of that. One less thing in the inbox to read and further clutter up your life!

But, we’ve survived another week on the road. It’s been a busy week with one of the more out of control team visits we’ve had to lead. It started on Thursday evening last week, the team was meant to arrive at 10:50 p.m.

John Stanley, Helen and I arrived in Entebbe, Uganda in the early hours of Thursday the 26th, having spent 8 hours in Addis Ababa airport. So here we were late that same night waiting for the team to arrive at Entebbe airport. First the plane was late by an hour so it’s almost midnight. Then people started coming out shaking their heads with little or no luggage and then finally the team of 9, not one suitcase of the 17 they checked in. By now it’s well after 1:00 a.m.

Ha, no luggage, no gear for the programs….. talk about a debacle. No wonder the English get knocked out of the World Cup early, British Airways can’t even get luggage on a plane. The lack of luggage and trying to track it and find it became the purpose of the rest of the week for me. It wasn’t on the flight on Friday night and there was no flight Sunday. Monday, 12 bags had come so, 7 hours in a bus to go get it, refusal to give it to me because I didn’t have a letter from each of the team members authorizing me to pick it up, an interesting discussion and a change of mind and finally, 13 of the 17 bags. One couple had 5 bags on the plane, mainly educational material and their clothes, they got 1 and left yesterday still not having located the other 4.

So, the team ran medical clinics, kids programs, painted and sanded and spent time visiting the children and their families in the little village of Mbale. At the debrief they talked about how shocked they were by the level of poverty in this village. The doctor especially was appalled at the level of health and lack of awareness of basic health. It’s a very needy place, that’s for sure.

Now, we continue to work on how to best help this place and there people. Timothy has a vision and a plan, so that’s a big start.

Then the real drama began, we travelled to Entebbe on Thursday to fly out. We just arrived at the hotel where Helen and I were staying and where the team would wait for a few hours before going to the airport. Everyone cranked up their smart phones and there it was, a threat on Entebbe Airport by an unknown terrorist group, specifically between 9 and 11 p.m. Guess what time the team was going to the airport, 10:00 p.m. it was now about 5:00 and a real test of the team. Well, the upshot was that they decided to postpone their flight by 24 hours, it didn’t take too much time to sort out.

So, early on Friday morning Kevin flew off to the Congo and Helen looked after the team for a day in Entebbe and dropped them off at the airport a day late. Hopefully they got to leave and aren’t stranded somewhere else without luggage.

I’ve got 3 days interviewing children and families in Bunia now while Helen hangs out in Entebbe. But, more about that next time.


Congo (DRC)

2014-07-06 to 2014-07-09

Wow, we’ve had a couple of days break from travel and running around, it feels great. I got back from The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday having spent 3 days there. It was a great time and I got meet a lot of great people. Let me introduce you to a few of them:

George Atido – he’s our main man in Bunia, though he’s not living there at the moment. He lives in Nairobi, Kenya. About 9 or 10 years ago there was a huge ethnic dispute here, much like in Rwanda. Thousands of people were killed and raped as traditional enemies took out pent up frustration on each other. At the time George ran away to Kenya. We met him there not long after that at the home of one of our Kenyan partners.

Since being in Kenya George has been continuing his studies and is about to complete a Doctorate in Theology with the help of Langham Fellowship. In about a year he will return to Bunia in the DRC to take up a lecturing role. But his heart has been in Bunia for a long time and he has put together a little partnership there supporting 60 vulnerable and poor kids to get an education. It’s pretty inspiring to see people like George caring for people. He has a number of other people on the ground, looking out for the students and making sure they are doing OK. I have to say in visiting the homes of a number of the families, these are very poor people here and most have a recent history of trauma of some kind. We heard some terrible stories.

Rogers is a cripple. He lost both legs to Meningitis during the war. He was in hospital at Nyankonde having just had his legs amputated when the hospital was attacked. His parents were killed and many of his family members died or disappeared. He is a Christian in the brethren church and used to be a primary school teacher. He is not allowed to teach now; disabled people are not allowed to work for the government.

After the loss of his legs his wife could not cope and left the family. But she was persuaded to return and it’s OK now. Since the war Rogers has never been back to his village though his wife and children have been.

Joshua has a friend who is an elder at the church that Rogers goes to. That friend suggested to Joshua that this family could do with some help. He is delighted to have help with the children. His wife  sometimes has employment as a cook at Medicins Sans Frontieres but it is not enough to keep the family well. They have 2 children in the programme but the eldest one is going on to secondary so now there will only be 1. Grace is going onto class 5.

Rogers said that in the past people would care for those who were poor and disadvantaged. But nowadays there is little sympathy, schools give no time to pay if parents get behind and children are constantly being chased from school.

Mmmmmmmmmm, chased from school, no disabled person can work for the government, no time to care, sounds like a just and fair society, yeah right

3 days of stories was enough really. I get the picture. If it weren’t for people like George this place would be a really bad place to live in. For those in the programme it’s still bad, but not really bad.

Helen survived her 3 days in Entebbe over the weekend. Loud music a parties raged most of the night by the comments she made. But, I got back Monday and there hasn’t been any noise since….. nice to be back together safe though. It was great flying across Africa in a little plane seeing all the villages and following the roads. But it’s good to be on the ground again.

In about an hour I’ve got an interview with a kiwi guy working here and overseeing a partnership further south in the DRC. It will be great to catch up with Stephen. Then tonight we meet 3 people from the USA who will be with us for 10 days.

So next time we’ll be in touch we’ll be on the road in the north of Uganda. Stay safe.

Kevin and Helen


around Uganda with May Valley

2014-07-09 to 2014-07-19

In a few hours Helen and I will be flying from Entebbe to Nairobi after 3 weeks here. Over the last 9 days we’ve had 3 people here from May Valley Church in Seattle, USA. They have been visiting a BHW partnership they have been supporting for the last 3 years.

So, we organised their trip and travelled with them. We had 8 days on the road, travelled over a thousand kms and met with a number of our partners. It was great to be able to spend time with the team and our partners. It was good to learn more about them and to hear at a deeper level their concerns and problems. And there are many.

For a couple of days I was really angry at some of the things we heard and I want to share 3 of them with you:

1. Jespenninah, a widow who is caring for 26 of her children and grandchildren. Not one of her 9 children has a job. Recently she was very sick and her sons beat up her daughter because she had kept her mother alive. They wanted her to die so they could get her cows and goats!

2. In 2 cities, the local Council has built market buildings to shift all the street marketers off the streets. But the locals cannot afford the cost of the rent and people from Kampala are coming in, bribing the officials and paying the high rentals. Many of the widows in the loan programme will lose their businesses.

3. Jacinta was a well off woman. Her husband was an accountant and they had 2 houses. Their 2 children had dies and as a 60 year old woman she was looking after her 4 grandchildren. Then her husband died, suddenly. Before he was even in the ground his brother’s and family had come in, taken everything from the houses and kicked into the street with the grandchildren. Now she lives in one room and is trying to make ends meet by raising chickens. Last week thieves stole her baby chickens.

And there were many other stories as well. No wonder I got angry. This is a brutal, uncaring, unforgiving culture. But there are some amazing people who think differently and who are shining examples to us of a different way.

We have about 3 days of break across this weekend and we’re trying to catch up on little things and not too much work! Heather at the office will be on my case after the weekend cause I didn’t send in any reports!! Too bad!!!

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen


zebra crossing

2014-07-20 to 2014-07-28

It’s been longer than we hoped since the last note.  But, here we are, safe and sound having spent 9 days in Nairobi.  We’ll hopefully be sending this from Harare. At the moment we’re flying there on Kenya Airways.

I was going to get this out yesterday. We had planned to spend Sunday writing reports and communicating. But first there was no internet and then the power went out from about 8:30 am till after 9:00 in the evening and by that time there was no way we were going to get it out.

We’re a little shaken up as we sit on the plane. On the way to the airport this morning at just after 5:30 the taxi swerved violently and then something hit our  . The driver’s window shattered all through the car and the driver let out a yell. At first I thought we had hit someone but on looking behind there was a zebra running off across the highway. We were OK but the driver got some small cuts on his hand. That’s a first for us, and in the middle of a city on a 6 lane motorway!

A few highlights from the time in Nairobi:

We got here on Saturday and went to the ACK (Anglican) guest house. We had booked there for 2 nights and then another 5 later. But, when we got there we found the prices had gone up from an expensive $US60 a night to almost $US90 a night. That’s way above our budget, the $US60 is more than we like to pay but Nairobi is an expensive place. So, we decided to stay one night and I went online and booked another hotel. It was in a rather less expensive part of town but less than ½ the price.

Monday and Tuesday we spent with  Robert Gitau. In May his wife Rose died and it was the first time we’d been  there since her death. We had a great time with him though of course he’s very lonely. We caught up with all the changes that are going on since Rose has died and felt that he and his team were making some good decisions. They have over 300 children to care for.

On Wednesday we visited Muthui, his wife Hannah was in hospital having a  serious operation. She’s out now recovering. We were inspired by the growth of table banking in the area. With little input groups are becoming self-sustaining within months. It truly is transforming the lives of many families.

Thursday we went to the infamous Mathare Valley and spent the day with our partners. Great stuff developing there.  It was encouraging to hear stories from young people who had just come out of a gap year programme. Also great to hear the ideas of the team as they seek to work with more than 1,600 young people and children.

Then Friday we met with a NZ friend Jude Goatley. Jude lives in Nairobi and is about to return to NZ. It was nice to see her after a long time.

Saturday we had 3 meetings. We heard about the development of Foundations for Farming with a partner who has a plan to develop a number of  bases around Kenya and South Sudan. Then we met our friend George Atido whom I was with in the Congo a couple of weeks earlier. It was great to meet his lovely family. Then a young guy trying to start a social enterprise based around replanting Kenyan forests and teaching young people. I was inspired by his vision and developing strategy.

Then Sunday, the day that wasn’t really. We were able to get a little writing done until our batteries died but it was sort of an enforced rest. I’m coming down with a sore nose and throat so not feeling good. Hopefully we’ll get something for it in Zimbabwe.

So, the trip goes on. 3 weeks until we get back to New Zealand. Before then it’s 5 days in Zimbabwe, 5 days in South Africa, 9 days in Pakistan and way too much time in planes and airports.

But, it’s all worth it when you meet such great people and get to participate in the transformation.

Just flying past Mt Kilamajaro, pretty spectacular.

We appreciate your prayers and notes that you send us.

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen


the downs and ups of the job

2014-07-28 to 2014-08-04

Zimbabwe, I wrote in a report a couple of days ago… “I’ve never been in a place where everything has so much political interference.” A couple of examples.

  1. Some months ago our friends were trying to help a group of HIV+ women and children from their church. They were not allowed to give them meals, give them food to cook for themselves, teach them how to grow gardens or assist them with transport funds to travel 50 kms to get their ARV medicines. Why? Because churches don’t do that! Because they are not registered to do that! And they can’t register because they won’t “pay” the local party members who approve applications! So the women and kids continue to suffer, some have died because some pathetic little person doesn’t get a dollar or two.
  2. A gift was given to a group of disabled kids who needed some help. They were part of a Resource Unit in a government school that has good teachers and some equipment. So, the donation was made, the school had to ask the education board if they can accept the gift, 6 months later the kids still haven’t got the equipment. Then the local PTA had to approve it (party members all) and then a public handover ceremony had to be organised so the local Member of Parliament can come and campaign for his corrupt party and take all the credit away from the church who made the donation! Churches don’t make donations like that, it’s not in the script. They are gobsmacked that someone would give a gift without some strings attached. The political people are upset because someone “gave” something!

So although we met and stayed with lovely people, the place is stinking corrupt. But you know that. While in Zimbabwe we:

Now we’re in South Africa, 3 more sleeps here before we head off to Pakistan.

But before we sign off again, we got this e-mail from a young guy in a partnership in Northern Uganda, he’s about 20 and studying to be a lawyer.

“Dear Kevin, I know the work you and your friends in Christ do is not an easy one. That is why I am writing to you this day to let you know that however hard it may be, know that there is a soul on this side of the moon that prays to God for you. I pray that he will give you courage, bless and continue to use you as a vessel to touch many other lives across the globe and shine a light of change in many other lives like you glued a change in mine.

Please send my appreciation to everyone that has been of help and those that put me and other people like me in their prayers. Tell them that I can't thank them enough. Though I have never met them and maybe I never will, to me they have always been here in my heart.

I also followed your path and started up a small charity while in my “A” level; Forest Hill Charity Club and Friends. We mobilise fellow students through Facebook, we clean hospitals, teach healthy living and inform people of their rights and the law of our country.

I love you all and shall continue to pray for you. May the love of Christ rain (sp?) in your hearts.”

Do we love what we’re doing? Yeah.

Appreciate your ongoing prayers as we head off into the final leg of this trip. Two weeks until we’re back home.

Love to all

Kevin and Nell


Moving towards home

2014-08-03 to 2014-08-09

It’s pretty weird today as we sit in Islamabad. It’s warm, the local muezzin is calling the population to prayer, the Christian kids in the next room are playing football on their Xbox. It’s so different to this time last week as we arrived in South Africa. Here we are living with a local family, last week we were by ourselves. Last week it was cold, this week it’s pretty warm, high 30s.

It’s a little confusing really. We had 5 days in South Africa, it was good to have 2 days rest there after a pretty tiring time in Zimbabwe. We’ve been here for a day and a half and most of it has been recovering from the trip from Johannesburg, talking to our friends about the stuff that’s going on and this morning we visited a sewing programme. The girls told us how valuable the training was and how it helps their families.  

After Johannesburg we went out to Nelspruit, a city near to Kruger National Park. We spent the 2 days with people there to see if there are partnership opportunities. It was pretty sobering really. We spent some time visiting houses of HIV+ people. These people have to stay at home, they are often too sick to work and many of those we met are not taking their ARVs as they should be. It’s Ok to give them ARVs, but many cannot afford to go to the clinic to pick them up, many are not eating well and a lot are still smoking and drinking which makes a potent cocktail with the ARVs. So many exhibit destructive traits like they have a death wish! It’s pretty frustrating for the Home Based Care workers we were visiting with.

We’re safe in Islamabad, well as safe as you can ever be in a place like this. There are demonstrations going on in the cities so we have to be a little more cautious that normal. We’ve got a plan B if things turn to custard. We had a nice surprise when we travelled on Thursday travel. We left Nelspruit at 8:40 a.m. and flew to Johannesburg where we waited for 4 hours. Then it was 8 ½ hours to Dubai with another 4 hours wait there. The plane left at 3:15 a.m. for Islamabad. The surprise was an upgrade to business class for the 3 hour flight. It then took about an hour for the baggage to come through and out we went into the pouring rain. So, pretty much the first rain we’ve experienced since leaving NZ almost 8 weeks ago.

The next couple of days will be busy, visiting a couple of churches, a school and the graduation of a sewing programme. Then it’s 2 days in a Punjabi village without air con and then on to Lahore. Hopefully the demonstrations will be over by then

We want to note the death of a very good friend last week in New Zealand. Wade Webby was a man we respected immensely. He came to faith in middle age with his wife Viv.  Kevin had the privilege of seeing him change from being a typical kiwi male into a Christian leader in the town and local church and the founder of a Christian Counselling Centre where we lived. We also spent many hours as church elders together chewing over big issues. He was wise and generous and a person I would trust with the hard things. He and Viv supported us and we’re just so glad we were able to catch up with them before we headed off on this trip. We have so many positive memories about Wade and we are very thankful for the friendship shared.

Missing that sort of event in the lives of our friends is the hardest part of this job. Our hearts are with Viv at the moment in this time of shock and readjustment. Our hearts are turned towards home and we wish we could be there and give her a big hug.

Now we’re off to church, a little house church in a small village just outside Islamabad. Poor, very poor and 3 years ago hardly anyone in church could read. Now they can and the change is astounding. More of that next time….

Love

Helen and Kevin 


Over and Out for now

2014-08-10 to 2014-08-17

A week has gone by and what a week it’s been. This time last week we were heading off to church in Islamabad, of course Kevin had to preach. There were more than 40 people packed into a little room in one of the leader’s houses. We had a nice time with a group of people whose lives have changed a lot in the last 2 to 3 years. Now many of them can read and a number of them are able to sew and earn a living. The church has grown and now they are dreaming about a building and growing even larger. They are all encouraged and that’s a good thing.

Anyway, after church we went home and hung out wondering what we were going to do. We had heard from our friends in Lahore that the roads were blocked by rioters in the streets. People were being beaten and some were killed. They suggested that we shouldn’t come, we were due to arrive there by bus on the following Thursday; Thursday was Independence Day.

So we sent a note off to our travel in NZ agent to see if there were options for flying out from Islamabad instead of Lahore. Anyway, Monday we went off to visit a school and a sewing programme graduation. It was great to hear the stories of change and to see the school had grown to 70 students. In 2 years it’s grown from 12 students and the plans are to go over 500 in the future.

We then heard that we could leave from Islamabad on Tuesday morning. So it was finish up seeing all we could and making sure we covered all the partnerships. 6:00 a.m. Tuesday saw us heading off to the airport and catching the plane to Dubai. We were sad not to get to the rural villages in Faisalabad and then on to Lahore. So we’ll have to follow up by e-mail and plan to go back again in March next year.

We got to Dubai and the free hotel as we had 24 hours before the connecting flight. We did a 2 hour tour around the city seeing the sights, pretty impressive buildings, 45 degrees heat didn’t make it particularly pleasant. Wednesday we caught the plane from Dubai to Auckland through Melbourne and we arrived on Thursday, just after midday. So, here sit in NZ, kind of wondering what happened to the week.

Anyway, we caught up with family Thursday and Friday and Sunday after church we drove down to Tauranga to see Sara and Karl and Coco. It’s lovely to see them; don’t kids grow up a lot in 2 months? Today Coco is 11 months old.

Thanks for being with us on this trip, it seemed to take forever. But we got to the most places, we met some great new people and were impressed by the ongoing growth of the partnerships. Some highlights:

  1. Good things happening in the highlands of Thailand with our ITDP partners
  2. Nice to see the school building developing in Ethiopia – the school should open next month
  3. Two teams from churches in the USA learned a lot from their time in Uganda and are continuing their involvement
  4. Really impressed with our partners in the DRC and the impact their partnership is delivering. Also great to meet George and family back in Nairobi a few weeks later, and the plane ride with MAF to Bunia was pretty cool.
  5. We checked out a couple of new partnership opportunities in Uganda as well, thinking required.
  6. Kenya is a very exciting place for us right now with a lot going on. Foundations for Farming is making an increasing impact
  7. The loan programme is becoming a really significant programme. We’ll look at developing this in the future in other places. Table banking has awesome potential
  8. First time to meet the disabled kids in Harare and spend time working through strategy with the team
  9. Bulawayo in Zimbabwe was tiring with long travel but interesting to see the impact that our partners are having.
  10. A potential new partnership in a South Africa looks really interesting – we’ll need time to think about it now
  11. And then there was Pakistan.

So now it’s a bit of R & R before we get back onto report writing. In a week it’s down to Christchurch for a catch up with the team. We’ve got another trip to plan for late October, and trip to the North of NZ with our church and lots of planning for next year.

So, we’ll go quiet for a couple of months and come back to you in October.

Thanks for your presence on the journey,

Warm regards

Kevin and Helen


How many days till Christmas?

2014-10-10

It's a beautiful day here where we live in Auckland. There are a lot of boats out, summer is coming. Yay. The last couple of weeks we've been pretty busy with helping our son Jared and his wife Ruth and their 2 boys, Hugo and Joel pack up their lives. Tomorrow they leave new zealand to live in Los Angeles, USA for at least 3 years. they have been staying with us for the last week so it's been fun, if not a little disrupting to have them around. It's sure going to be quiet on Monday!

Since getting back from the last trip it has been pretty full on. Kevin has spoken 5 or 6 times at our own church and one other. He went to Christchurch for a few days at the BHW office. We both went to Tauranga as Coco, our grandaughter had her 1st birthday. That was fun. We then did a trip to the Southern part of the North Island and Kevin spent 2 days in Nelson. The main reason was to catch up with our team who look after various parts of the Bright Hope World partnerships. It's so encouraging to spend time with them and observe their generous hearts. 

At the moment 2 of them are offshore and early next year a lot of them are off to their respective fileds of operation. So, it was reviewing our partnerships and planning for trips.

We're back online cause in a week Kevin heads out again. On Monday week, the 20th, he's off to Burundi for a week. We're developing a new partnership there and will be doing Foundations for Farming (FfF) training. Then it's 10 days in Ethiopia with more FfF training and a team of 4 comes in from the USA to build a playground at the school that's being built there. Then on to North East India for a week hopefully getting out the the  Myamar border with a medical camp. We've been training community health workers to work in that area and they will all be there with some doctors. While Kevin is out there, Helen will be in Levin for some family celebrations. 

After 3 1/2 weeks, Kevin gets back to Brisbane and meets Helen. Then it's 14 days holiday on the Gold and Sunshine Coast. A friend had lent us his house there so it will be great to have a week by ourselves and also some time catch up on family and friends in the area. 

Then it's back to New Zealand for 5 days and Kevin then heads off to Egypt for 10 days developing new relstionships there. You'll all be aware of the tensions and trouble in the Middle East. We feel drawn to do what we can in that area and to develop more partnerships to deal with the terrible fallout from the terror. Next year will see us spend more time in places like Egypt, Turkey, Armenia and Jordan as we seek to help key people be more effective. 

So, it's a busy end of year for us and we really value your interest and coming along with us. It looks like next year is goining to be pretty crazy but from then on we'll be slowing down much more. Well, that's the plan anyway.

So, we've given you a week's warning and we'll be back on the road with more frequent updates.

Love to you all, 75 days till Christmas!

Kevin nad Helen


training in Burundi

2014-10-20 to 2014-10-25

I’m sitting in a little village, just outside the town on Matana, about 3 hours southeast of Bujumbura in Burundi. It seems a long way from Auckland in New Zealand which I left last Monday.

We’re coming to the end of a 3 day seminar here in the bush. 24 people from 14 different parts of Burundi to learn new methods of farming. It’s been amazing to see the passion these guys have to learn. They have been getting poorer and poorer for years and have got to the point of desperation. This is a very densely populated country and land ownership is a major issue. Plots of land are decreasing in size every generation. It’s a hilly country, beautiful but when it rains, the hills wash down into the valleys and end up in Lake Tanganyika. Burundi about the 4th poorest country in the world according to UN stats.

We’re in the last session, it’s really funny to watch them grappling with new issues. Amazing really. Very stimulating and inspiring, but I fear there is going to be a lot more work here for John and the BHW team in the future. Well, that’s what we’re here for I guess, to stimulate change.

The journey to get here was pretty long and tiring. I left Auckland Monday evening and flew to Melbourne. A 1 hour stopover we were off again and 19 hours after leaving Auckland I landed in Dubai. Then it was a 5 hour stopover before heading off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Thank goodness for silver status with Emirates, a very nice lounge. While there, by chance I met a NZ guy I’ve known for a number of years, so it was nice to catch up. He’s involved in some stuff in the Middle East and as you will be aware, that’s a really difficult place to be at the moment. We chatted about some stuff we may be able to do together in the future. Maybe this was one of those God appointments that we often ask God to provide. Time will tell.

4 ½ hours later I’m landing in Ethiopia where I have to overnight. Just as I was leaving New Zealand I learned that my flight from Addis to Bujumbura had been cancelled. By the time I got to Dubai I had an alternative, a much longer and more expensive alternative. So, next morning it was a 2 hour flight to Nairobi, arriving at 1:00 p.m. I was meant to be meeting John Vlaming here to fly to Bujumbura together. On arriving in Nairobi I found out that his flight from Zimbabwe had been cancelled. So, we tried to make an alternative plan. Five hours later (and Nairobi is not a great place to spend 5 hours,) I was off to Bujumbura arriving around 6:00 p.m. I can’t even add up the hours, but I was shattered. John finally arrived at 2:00 a.m. and at 6:30 a.m. next morning we were in a car heading out to Matana and 3 days training.

At least the next few days will be a little less tiring. Well I hope so, though there is a rumour going around that I’m preaching tomorrow at church, a big church in the city. Just need that!

Friends, this can be a tiring kind of lifestyle. But when I think of the potential in this room to revolutionise many grass roots communities, it makes the tiredness worthwhile.

Until next time.

Kevin and Helen


Foundations

2014-10-26 to 2014-10-30

Well I did have to preach the next day, the rumour was true! So I found myself preaching at Bwiza church in the middle of Bujumbura, about 300 people turned up. They have a vision to become a large church in the centre of the city, ministering to the heart of the city. From the church building you can see at least 4 mosques, there are new ones being built every month in this country. Huge big buildings and the churches struggle to get past go when it comes to facilities. Anyway, that’s another subject. There was a lot of singing, the kid’s choir was cute and the final song of the main choir was outstanding. Very cool, love the Africa singing and rhythms.

On Sunday afternoon we headed of for a stroll to the beach, there are beautiful beaches here on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Hundreds of young people were there, playing partying, swimming and enjoying life. It’s strange, one minute we’re with people who don’t have anything and life is all hard work and toil, next day we’re amidst luxury and leisure.

The poverty here is a different type to other places. Most people live in rural villages and towns. They have to scratch around in the ground to even live. And in the cities it’s just like the West. Nice streets and buildings, shops and nice restaurants.

I spent Monday talking through opportunities for further involvement here. It looks really promising. The land is fertile that’s for sure. So we’re making plans to continue with the Foundations for Farming. John Vlaming will follow up on all that.

Tuesday morning we wound up our discussions and headed to the airport. The flight from Bujumbura to Addis Ababa stopped off in Kigali, Rwanda. We got to Addis early, had a great Chinese meal and then I headed to the airport to pick up a team of 4 from Chase Oaks Church, Dallas, USA. They all got in OK and into bed around midnight.

Early the next morning we were back at the airport and flying an hour north to Gonder. The next few days the team is building a huge playground for the school that’s being built here. Along with that we’re training some farmers on Friday and Saturday. So it’s going to be busy, but a lot of fun as well seeing people change.

I’m not really involved in the building or the training, really my role is to facilitate things happening. But there will be a number of meetings about partnerships. Also with John Vlaming with me, we’ll be finalising plans for 3 other partnerships, 3 in Kenya and one in Myanmar.

I’ve just finished reading an interesting book, The Tyranny of Experts, Economists and Dictators and the Forgotten Right of the Poor,” by William Easterly. It’s a book on economics and it has so many applications to the work we are doing. The scary thing is this, according to him, that the whole foundation of development as we know it in the world, the basic economic theory is entirely flawed and therefore, most of the work done for the poor entraps then into deeper poverty and disempowers them. He does give positive changes that need to be made. He confirms my belief that working at the grassroots, outside the formal NGO sector is the best way to go.

Many mission agencies need to read this book I think, because nearly all of them, especially those involved in development are operating with good intentions but flawed foundational understandings.

That’s enough preaching for now. I’ll get back to digging!

Till next time

Kevin and Helen


play grounds and playing

2014-10-31 to 2014-11-05

Hey there,

I’ve been here in Gonder, Ethiopia for more than a week now. There’s been a bit going on but before I begin I need to make a correction to the previous blog. In the last main paragraph is said something like, mission agencies are not operating with good intentions. Oooppps, where did the NOT come from. I meant, they are operating with good intentions, that makes quite a difference to the meaing!

Anyway, 3 big highlights since I was last with you, well 4 actually.

  1. I’ve slept in the same bed for 8 nights in a row, it will be 10 by the time I leave! That would have to be a record over the last couple of years including my bed in New Zealand!! Well not quite.

  1. John Vlaming was here with me in Gonder and for 2 full days was involved in training a group of 7 guys from way out in the bush. They are Gumuz (ethnicity) and have little or no education or background in growing crops sustainably. So, it was interesting watching them gain confidence with the methods John was teaching. It will also be interesting to see how they progress. They have some growing assignments to do, John will be out there again next year to see the progress.

  1. John left Saturday and on Sunday I went with the team out to the Simien Mountains. What an amazing place. The terrain is strikingly beautiful. The highlight there was spending almost an hour sitting in two different troops of Gelada monkeys. It was fascinating watching them as they ate, played and gambolled about without bothering about us. They came up really close. We walked along the escarpment for almost two hours. It’s 10,700 feet above sea level but we’re far from the sea it’s hard to realise that. Great way to relax a bit. I’m not great at relaxing so it was nice for break.

  1. Building the playground at the school. The team of 4 from the US completed the project yesterday, a day early. So today we’ll head out and wash it down, put in a few last rivets and hand it over to Worku, our partners in Ethiopia. In September next year the plan is to open with about 300 kids in the kindergarten and 480 in the first 4 grades of primary. The playground is part of delivering a great environment and a quality education for the children of Gonder. The purpose of the school is also to generate funds to support other relief and development programmes in Ethiopia. Awesome dream that Worku has for his people.

Later in the day we’ll visit some of the other people being helped in this partnership, mainly vulnerable older people and we’ll do a bit of souvenir shopping and a couple of the guys want to visit the castle in Gonder.

I’ve got 2 more sleeps here before moving on to N.E. India. Helen is enjoying girl time with our daughter Sara and Sara’s daughter, Coco. They are staying for a few days with Helen and it sounds like there are plenty of games going on. It’s been good to be able to skype them from the hotel, sometimes twice a day. It makes separation a little less stressful and hotel living a little less lonely.

Well, I’ll head off for the day and throw a few photos in with this when I get back

Kevin and Helen


Longwa(y)

2014-11-06 to 2014-11-12

It’s kind of crazy really. It’s Tuesday as I start writing this, hopefully I’ll send it out on late on Wednesday. Right now I’m sitting in a remote part of India, I’m not sure it would be possible to be much more remote. I’m staying in a little guest house with 14 others in Longwa. It’s in India, well half of it is anyway. The chief’s house straddles the border, he sleeps on the Myanmar side and his 6 wives sleep on the India side.

I’m here with a team of doctors and nurses from Bright Hope Nagaland. All the team are Naga people mobilised by Subong Aier our partner in Nagaland. We’ll be here for 2 days helping the people in this remote place. Most of the patients will come from across the border, some of them will walk 4 – 5 hours to get here. There are no roads on that side, the road stops and a km from here at the border. We got here at dusk last night and an hour later the doctors stitched up a guy who had been gored by a cow. A church planter came here about 10 years ago and there is a thriving Christian community here now. The team is here to support the growth of the work and further reach into Myanmar.

I met 2 young women on Sunday who are about to finish their 1 year training course. They have been trained in basic medicine and health care and will be returning to Myanmar to take their expertise to the local people. Bright Hope Nagaland sponsors their training and gives them a basic health care kit as they go back to their people.

It’s a long way from Gonder in Northern Ethiopia. I left there on Friday after the US team had gone the day before. I had a 1 hour flight to Addis Ababa and then a 6 hour wait. The off to Dubai, 3 ½ hours on a pretty uncomfortable flight. The seat was jammed with a lumbar part sticking into my back, there were no spare seats to shift to, there was a thingy under my feet so I couldn’t stretch my legs out and the TV didn’t work, or the light…… It was nice to land at Dubai and get to the lounge and have a shower and relax. At 2:00 a.m. I flew off to Kolkata, 4 hours and then a bit of a dash through Immigration and Customs and a flight to DImapur landing in Dibrugarh on the way for the heck of it. I have to say that although Air India doesn’t have a great reputation, it has improved a heap as has the airport in Kolkata.

I was shot by the time I got to Dimpur and spent the afternoon relaxing. Nice. Caught up on e-mails and was able to skype Helen and watch Liverpool get beaten by Chelsea! Sorry Jared!

Sunday we went to church and I did a short message to the 400 or so that gathered. Then I spent the afternoon with Subong and Nerula and a group of about 30 Bright Hope Nagaland supporters. Back to the lodging around 5:00 and it was dark already. Weird, dark at around 4:45.

Yesterday, Monday we woke at 4:30 a.m. and drove for more than 10 hours over terrible roads to get to Longwa, you can find it on Google Maps. It’s gonna be interesting exploring the place the next 2 days and meeting people from the Konyak tribal group. We have to leave tomorrow so around 11:00 a.m. we’ll start the trip to Dimapur.

The Naga team are lovely, they laugh and pray at the drop of a hat. They are very friendly and inclusive. On the trip out here yesterday we stopped for breakfast and lunch in two little towns. My word, it’s great travelling with local people who know their way around the restaurants. Both meals were amazing local feasts. I’m not sure I could eat curry for breakfast every day, but the flavours were fantastic and I could taste the curry all day!

One of the reasons for coming to Nagaland was to meet with another BHW partner. We have supported Dr. Chuba Walling for many years, as a doctor in the bush and then for 3 more years specialist training which he had just completed. The plan was that he would head up a project of training and mentoring rural doctors throughout the north of India and into surrounding countries. About 4 hours after I arrived here on Saturday Dr. Walling died of a stroke, he was only in his late 30s. I didn’t know until the next morning but it’s put a bit of a pall over my spirit.

I’m starting to count down the sleeps till the end of the trip. It’s hard not to really.

So, God bless you all and thanks for following on with us.

Kevin and Helen


Together Again in Brizzie

2014-11-11 to 2014-11-17

While in Nagaland I travelled with a team of 15 to the border with Myanmar as you saw in the last blog. We were at Longwa, one of the 4 main border crossings between Myanmar and Nagaland State. It sure is a remote place. It’s another example of where our partners live, on the margins.

The team was made up of 4 5octors and 2 nurses plus a team from the nearest hospital, about 50 kms away. Their role of that team is to visit all the outlying villages and towns, but they’ve never been to this place. We heard that Doctors without Borders camped here for a couple of years, some years ago, but they have now left.

A young man came here a few years ago with a focus on the Myanmar side. There is now a network of 19 churches in the area. It is very remote, 8 days walk to the nearest town for most of them. So they come to the India side for anything they need.

I learned more than a few things while there and observed:

  1. These people are the dirtiest people the doctors and nurses have ever worked with. 80% of their issues would be solved with basic hygiene and a wash.

  1. Every person that came was infested with intestinal worms.

  1. Most of the children were severely malnourished.

  1. The Konyak people are the largest and most hard working of the Naga tribes. The British were afraid of them during the Raj and introduced them to opium. It destroyed them and now it is grown extensively and exported through to India. We saw large fields of it growing across the border.

  1. Most of the young people here are using opium, even though they call themselves Christians

  1. This border is a major route for child trafficking. Recently a truckload of girls was picked up in Mumbai from this area.

So, it’s a very vulnerable area. The pastor of the large church is struggling to deal with the issues and I got the feeling he has pretty much given up and in many areas. I found it a pretty sobering place to be. A group called Nehemiah India has started a school in the village but they have been overrun by people from Myanmar and have had to start a hostel otherwise no one of these kids would go to school.

During the day and a half we were on the ground there the doctors treated over 700 people. A major part of the reason for going was to assess the situation. Bright Hope Nagaland is developing a strategy to train local people to become rural health workers, and possibly agriculture trainers as well to come alongside the newly established churches on the Myanmar side. Now all I have to do is convince our team that it’s a good idea!

After returning from Longwa I had a couple of easy days, catching up on emails and a few meetings before leaving around midday on Saturday. I had a 2 hour flight to Kolkata and then a 5 hour wait. Then it was a 4 hour flight back to Dubai. I only had a 2 hour layover and decided, seeing I had another 14 hours flying, to upgrade to business using airpoints. It was worth it! Then it was 7 hours to Singapore and a 1 hour layover, then 7 hours to Brisbane. I arrived at 1 a.m. just as the Chinese delegation from the G20 meetings arrived at the airport! So by the time I got out, picked up a rental car and got to where we are staying it was almost 3:00 a.m.

The good news is, Helen is here in Brisbane and we’ve got about 12 days holiday. We’re ready for it. It’s been a crazy, yet wonderful year. And it’s not over. We get back to New Zealand on the 29th November and then on the 4th December I’m off to Egypt for 10 days. But more about that later.

In the meantime, we’ll try to survive the heat in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. Typical, it’s been terribly hot here, 40 degrees C. I get here and it starts raining!

However, it’s nice to be together and to have time to catch our breath. We’ll be visiting a few relatives until Saturday and then we’ve got a week in a friends place at Caloundra. Nice.

Love and Seasons greetings from Australia

Kevin and Helen


Seasons greetings from Egypt

2014-12-04

Wow, this is crazy. I hardly seems like a couple of days have passed since writing the last blog and in back on the road again. We had a lovely break in Caloundra, Australia. We just walked and drank coffee and read and talked. It was great.

Then last Saturday it was home and Sunday spoke at our local church. Helen would have helped but she’s had a bit of flu and wasn’t feeling great. But she’s OK now. I’ve not been feeling that well, most of the last trip I had a niggling chest infection. But that’s cleared, however, after taking antibiotics I sometimes break out with mouth ulcers etc and they are coming on at the moment.

So, I’m in Melbourne airport with a five hour wait till QR905 whisks me off to Doha, 14 hours from here. Then a brief layover and on to Cairo, Egypt.

It will be my first time there, basically this trip is 10 days of research. I have 3 contacts to follow up and get to know so it’s going to be really interesting. I’ll update you on it as I go, though I’ll have to be a bit careful about what I say.

There are a couple of concerns. Last week there were riots in the city as a pervious President was acquitted of crimes while in office. This caused a lot of rioting in the streets. Also, next Tuesday, 188 people are to be executed for killing some police in a previous riot. So that has the potential to cause more unrest. However, our contacts there are pretty wise and live near the airport!

So, if you have any time and you are a person who prays …….. appreciated.

Helen will be with Sara and Karl and Coco in Papamoa till early next week and then goes back home. At least it’s only 10 days away from home. I get back on the 15th and then it’s only 10 days till Christmas.

So friends, I trust that you enjoy the lead up to Christmas. I’ll not be seeing any Christmas trees, Christmas advertising, Christmas carols and hype to buy stuff. Sounds perfect! At the same time the name of Jesus and his story will be largely absent.

Seasons greetings,

Kevin and Helen


Ancient

2014-12-04 to 2014-12-10

I’m sorry guys, I should have been in touch before now. It’s been over a week since the last update so it’s well overdue.

Egypt, what a place. Here are a few observations and anecdotes:

I can’t say much about the people I’ve met as there are serious security issues with being a minority here. But they are so sure that the recent change in government here was a God thing as it could never have been organised at a human level. With the previous government life had become intolerable for believers and now, it’s very different.

The people I have been meeting are wonderful, full of faith with clear vision and purpose. Pretty inspiring really. Some have lost family members, the husband of a couple I spent a lot of time with yesterday, whose father was a pastor, saw his father butchered in front of him as a 6 year old. He now leads a large ministry that is impacting thousands of people a year.

Late afternoon yesterday I went with some friends to purchase warm clothes for 300 children. There are a lot Syrian refugees here, most of them Moslem. They are destitute and the people I was with run regular programmes for them. It’s the start of the cool season in this part of the world so at an upcoming Christmas programme all the kids will be given warm jackets. We were there in the bazaar to buy 300 jackets. What a laugh going around in there. I made friends with a bunch of guys while waiting and shared a few teas and laughs. They were really funny though the people I was with were a bit concerned about me! I didn’t get into the shisha or hookah smoking though. You see it everywhere heaps of women doing it in the restaurants. They say one session is the equivalent of 200 cigarettes!

So, the trip here has given me plenty to think about and process over the next few weeks as I work though how we might become involved. But some of the things to weigh up:

One thing I’ve learned, the church here is alive and active with a clear vision. But they also have a lot of resources so there may not be a place for us. I wouldn’t want to rush in, it will take time to work it all through.

I’ve only got 2 days left here now, Saturday I start heading home. So, I hope to do one more update before the end of the year, but you've heard all that before! In the meantime, take care and Seasons Greetings

Kevin and Helen


I'm back from Egypt

2014-12-11 to 2014-12-16

Hey guys, I'm back from Egypt. I wonder if Moses ever said that! I see he's starring in a new movie this Christmas. However, despite all of his antics on the screen, here are a couple of comments from my latest adventures. 

I'm not going to bore you with the trip stuff and travel, that's not why you read this. On Thursday last week I shifted to the south of Cairo, to Helwan. A family there has been running a ministry among people who spend their lives collecting and sorting rubbish. What a place it is. I had 2 nights with them and loved seeing what they are doing, meeting the people they work amongst and hearing the stories. Then Saturday I started for home……

On the way home I was reflecting on my trip, lots to think about and process. But a couple of almost unconnected thoughts came to me from two of the church services I attended. The first came from the first Sunday in Cairo. I went to a church that was all South Sudanese people. Most came to Egypt as refugees. As they sang and worshipped I joined in, just clapped a little and moved my feet around and enjoyed it, then I spoke for about 10 minutes to encourage them and left. There was another guy there to do the main speaking that day. He just sat in the front row, an Egyptian guy.

The next day I was with a group of South Sudanese who were at the church that morning. When they saw me they ran over like we were old friends and started shouting and jumping around. “What’s going on” I asked. One explained how powerful my message was yesterday. “It wasn’t much” I thought to myself. “How was the other guy’s message” I asked. “He was boring and not very good” they said. “How come?” “Well.” They said, “you  joined in with the worship and he didn’t!”

It made me think about Christmas really. Jesus didn’t sit on the sidelines or shout from a distance. He joined in and made it possible for us to come into relationship with God. And because he is one of us, we get to participate in His story and be blessed in so many ways.

The second thought came from last Friday night. I was sitting in this obscure little village, wintery and cold, the locals were feeling it. I was meeting with a group of people, almost as poor as it’s possible to be. Rubbish collectors and sorters, the stench of garbage was everywhere. Rats and flies swarmed the ground and the air. The kids were unwell and dirty and the parents weren’t much cleaner. And we’re sitting there singing about Jesus and worshipping him in a language I don’t know and it occurred to me that, the first Christmas occurred amongst people just like this. Poor, dirty, at the bottom of the pecking order. They were despised (looked down on by the majority,) rejected (their kids not allowed to go to school because they live in garbage city) and controlled by others with few laws to protect them.

And yet, great joy, because the Savior has come. Saviors save, and they rescue, and they bring hope, and freedom and closeness. And these people, that night, in that place were experiencing something profoundly moving. In the midst of their plight, all of them about as poor as it’s possible to be, the savior came and met with them. They went away changed, rejoicing…. into smelly, dirty places but with clean hearts and singing.

So God came close, he came close to those who had very little in terms of money and that’s the story of Christmas.

That’s why we love doing what we do. Because when we get close to those who don’t have a lot, it’s like Christmas, any day of the year.

It’s lovely to be home again after a busy year. It’s been a year of real fulfillment for and we could not have done it without you.

From our place to yours,

Happy Christmas.

Kevin and Helen


underway in 2015

2015-02-18

My goodness, the year is well underway, where did summer go? It's been pretty full on but now we're ready to hit the air again. Since getting back from Egypt in December we've had a lovely christmas time with our family and friends We missed having Jared and Ruth and Hugo and Joel with us this year. They are now living in USA for 3 years. The highlight was probably the time we spent with our team in Nelson. What great people. 

Over the past few months Kevin has been having trouble with his legs and feet swelling. He went to the doctor in early January and was told that he had varicose veins and that they had to be dealt with. So within a couple of days he was in for two procedures in 2 weeks and is now in recovery mode. We had to fit it into a window of more than 4 weeks to be able to travel again. 

On the 24th February, 4 weeks to the day since the operation kevin is off to India followed the next day by Helen and four people from our local church. Then it's 3 weeks in India starting in Chennai, then to  Bangalore, on to Kochi and then to Delhi. That takes 2 weeks and then the church team leaves and James, our India facilitator joins us for another week with time in Delhi and Bangalore. 

Helen then returns to NZ and Kevin goes on to Pakistan and Armenia for a couple of weeks. That's trip one for 2015. 

We are planning two more trips later in the year.  The second trip  Kevin will go to South America and Southern Africa  and both of us will be in USA . 

The third trip is to Africa and the Middle East mainly introducing new facilitators to our friends in Kenya, Burundi, DRC, South Sudan and Egypt.

So it's going to be full on again and we so appreciate you being along for the ride. We need and appreciate your  prayers for us. We'll be in some interesting places. As you'll be aware, the work is taking us to more  increasingly unsafe places and we will find ourselves near places of danger. Many of our friends are under pressure, many face increasing opposition. It's tough to be a Christian in many places now. 

Our focus is shifting towards the Middle East and North Africa and the plan is that we continue to go there regulalry over the next few years. 

May you be encouraged as you follow along.

love and warm regards

Helen and Kevin 


CMCT in Chennai

2015-02-25 to 2015-02-28

OK, so here we are in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Hard to describe the difference between our quiet little suburb on the Whangaparaoa Peninsular in New Zealand and this crazy, noisy, vibrant city. The population of the city is almost double that of New Zealand and it’s all compressed into an area smaller than Auckland! It kind of assaults your senses, all of them, all at once.

And we have larger cities to go to in the next few weeks so it’s going to be interesting to see how everyone on the team reacts to it all. At the moment it’s all new and exciting with something new to see every time you look out the window. But that may wear off!

Just to explain, this first 2 weeks of the trip there are 6 of us from our local church, Orewa Community Church in Auckland, New Zealand. Our church has been partnering with a ministry called CMCT for a number of years and we’re here to represent the church and develop the relationship. CMCT was started many years ago by a New Zealand woman, Colleen Redit, and now it is a huge ministry caring for thousands of vulnerable people. It’s really interesting to see the developments since I was last here in 2003, to meet many wonderful people and to participate a little in what they are doing.

After 2 weeks the church team leaves and we then carry on for another week in India with James Rees Thomas, the Bright Hope India facilitator.

But for now, it’s Helen and I, Murray and  Glenys Cooper who pastor the church and Lois and Leah who are learning as much as they can as we travel. Leah’s suitcase only turned up today, 3 days late. So she’s a very happy, relieved camper.

We’ve jumped into the deep end here. We’ve only been on the ground for 3 days and we’ve preached and prayed so many times I can’t even remember. Every morning the staff of CMCT meet for an hour of singing and preaching. We’ve been to those each day. Then it’s been a lot of visits to the many ministries that CMCT is involved in. These include:

The ministry employs almost 400 people in total, the calibre of people involved is impressive. Our interest from OCC church is the feeding houses and it’s been great to visit 4 of the 6 locations, meet the people running the project and meet those who are benefitting from it and to hear their stories. Very moving, heart breaking. And to encourage them and pray for them, our team has been great. Getting down and serving, praying arms around shoulders……

It’s Saturday afternoon and we’ve just got back from visiting 2 of the 3 leprosy “colonies” where they have work going. These people are severely deformed, but because they have a decent house, many have healthy family members living with them. So all the family members get tagged with the leper stigma and are shunned by the communities. These people are being given dignity, they are employed to make crafts which are then sold and many are given a shot at a better life through education sponsorships. Some of the older women are in very desperate circumstances. We were shocked at the plight of 2 of the women who had no family members. One had been living there for over 40 years. She had no hands or toes on her feet and I reckon she probably only weighed 40 kg. But she gets all her meals provided and someone comes to help her at meal times.

The staff travel 2 hours each way every day to deliver this program. Their commitment and tenacity are inspiring.

It’s been an encouraging time here in Chennai but we’re tired right at the moment. Tomorrow, Sunday will be a quieter day with a bit of a later start. Kevin has to preach at church and after lunch we might get to do a little wandering around a market. One of the women travelling with us loves fabrics so there could well be some activity then.

Tomorrow evening we fly on to Bangalore for 3 days.

Feel free to write a note on the message board.

Love from us in India. photos will come through tomorrow

Helen and Kevin


gutsy faith

2015-03-03

It’s hard to remember all the things that have happened in the last few days. So bear with us  as we crank back through the last few days. Na, too hard, we’ll just make a few observation and comments about what we’ve been seeing and hearing. Helen and a couple of the women on the team have gone into Bangalore shopping so I have no idea when they’ll be back or if we’ll ever see them again!!

These things stand out in our minds:

An increasingly difficult time that minority groups are facing here. This is how it goes, it’s the 21st century right. And the government of the second largest country in the world and the largest democracy now exists to return the country to it’ original religion. If you’re a minority, you will have less rights than the rest. We’re talking about some 250 million people having less rights. That’s apart from the women, that’s apart from the Adavasi and tribal people who have few rights anyway! There’s a sense that the Christian church which makes up a major part of this minority welcome the pressure. Christian faith finds its most fertile soil in persecution. At the local level many people are being killed, many are losing loved ones and are facing the persecution of being forced to “return home” to Hinduism!

The blatant injustice that many in this country face. One govt. minister has introduced a clean up India program which includes sweeping the streets of all the people who live there. They force some of our partners to take in these people and expect our partners to do it for nothing. They pay people to dispose of rubbish, but refuse to pay to dispose of people. They deliver dying and dead people to their front door and our partners have to even pay for the cremation!

We met one couple who have a school for around 300 kids. Most don’t pay fees, frankly I don’t know how they make it work. But they also have 28 kids living in their house with them. One family of 3 has been with them for 7 years. Their parents  live 1,500 kms away and the children have forgotten their mother tongue. So, they now have 3 more to care for. Young women often disappear from the homes of their parents, they elope, they run away and end up in Bangalore. The parents ring and ask our friends to find them. When they do, the families want nothing more to do with their children and won’t even support them. They have brought shame on the family, so our friends take them in as well.

You know, I’m getting tired of hearing all this tragedy. Mainly I think it’s because I’m not sure I have the faith or the patience to deal with this the way our friends do. They express anger, desperation, and fear to us. Many don’t know how they will get through the next day or two. But they get up next morning at 4, they reorient themselves with the Word and they open their doors with a smile and open arms to the desperate. Day after day, week after week, month after month….. This is faith with guts. This is faith in the face of fear and uncertainty….. and God comes through for them every day.

We’ve decided that the greatest challenge facing the Western Church is to produce people with this kind of resilience and tenacity. Young people who will step out of the comfort zones, parents who will take their kids on a journey to the ends of the earth, older people who will sell up and move out and leaders who will forget politics and power games and just throw it all away for the sake of the cause.

I’m wondering, searching my heart really if I understand faith like this at all. I’m wondering if the western church is being sold short. I’m wondering if it’s a genuine article or a fake with a thin veneer. I’m pretty sure it would be shown up in the face of the reality our partners are dealing with every day.

Sorry, had to get it off my chest!

I was hoping to put up some photos but it’s got too late at night and we leave Bangalore tomorrow. We have to get up at 5:30, hit the road at 6:00 and fly to Kochi, about an hour. Then it’s a 1 hour drive to Trichur and our home for 3 nights. So, photos next time, promise!

We loved getting all the messages last time, thanks so much.

Helen and Kevin  


Hot and cold

2015-03-03 to 2015-03-08

Hi there everyone. It’s been a really interesting few days for the team. Last night we arrived in Delhi from Kochi, a 4 ½ flight, from 38 degrees to 17!!

Wednesday we flew early to Kochi from Bangalore and landed in a sweat bath. Mid to high 30s and 90%+ humidity. We stayed at Rehoboth Orphanage in Thrissur or Trichur.

Rehoboth is a wonderful crazy place. Inside the gates it’s all on.

There are 150 girls in an orphanage. That’s the main reason for the work. It was started about 110 years ago and we heard many stories from the past. There is also a boys orphanage (which we didn’t visit) and another one in another State, so it’s really all about the kids. They are lovely. We spent a lot of time playing with the girls, telling stories and singing to them. Oh, and listening to them sing. I pulled out a couple of the old Jungle Doctor stories to illustrate some points.

One evening we were told that the next day we had to do a 3 hour session with the students from the Bible College, about 45 of them. So we made up a plan and spent the morning talking to them. We learned a lot about them and they seemed to be blessed by what we shared.

We spent time wandering around the orchards and gardens. They grow a huge range of crops: cashew nuts, mangoes, jackfruit, coconuts, rubber (which they process on site,) arrowroot, bitter gourd, bananas, tamarind, pepper, peanuts, and a number of others. This employs many people, some of the produce is for sale and some to feed the kids. They also have about 20 dairy cows. There is quite a lot of unused land as well that could be utilised.

There are also 2 schools inside the gates. An English medium school and one in Malyalum. every time you look out the window or walk past a door there are kids outside. it's like swarming in little people trying to learn and study. 

And then there is Phyllis, she’s amazing. Over 80 years old and still dreaming about the future. We had a lovely time with her and Sarah and Andrea, a couple of kiwi women working alongside her. She has some really good people on her team and she’s developing them for future leadership.

The stories of trial and testing are the stuff of a book and of legend. Of course, she would be embarrassed about that and probably even if she found out I was writing this. Our team just loved the time there and have been deeply challenged by her life of faith. It would be hard to count the number of people whose lives have been impacted by this women and her life amongst them.

We left somewhat reluctantly and more than a little inspired.

Saturday we travelled most of the day, arriving in Delhi in the middle of a very cold turn in the weather and a huge electric storm. It’s not meant to be raining here at this time of year. But it was, our bags were a little damp on arrival.

So dear friends, we start another week of adventure. The last one has been full and we have been blessed in amazing ways by the people we have met and by each other.

We so appreciate your prayers, interest and messages. It’s a privilege to be travelling with you

Much love

Helen and Kevin


Delhi birthday

2015-03-09 to 2015-03-14

Delhi, what a place. Crazy, noisy, smelly, colour and chaos. At the same time it’s intriguing, every sense is battered, constantly. We've been a week here now, I didn’t expect to wait a week to write the next episode.

We’ve seen and experienced a lot since being here, but we’ve had a couple of days off too, so it’s been great. With the team from our home church we met a wonderful bunch of people and listened to some amazing stories. The scale of North India is unbelievable, especially coming from little New Zealand. The numbers are off the scale, it really is wall to wall people, everywhere, the roads, the streets, the shops……

I can’t say a lot about the people we’ve met. Life for our friends here is not easy. They are constantly under pressure. Where we are staying there are armed police guarding the place, is it for protection, intimidation or information! Hard to know.

We arrived last Saturday and spent Sunday at church and then visiting a shopping emporium. Amazing stuff. We then visiting the Imperial Hotel which was right out of the Raj and the starting rate for a room is $US350 a night. We sat at a table for a few minutes and then left, nearly $10 for a cup of team didn’t seem worthwhile!!

Monday we visited the Taj Mahal, a day trip from Delhi.  It’s amazing, but really it’s just a tomb for a guy who had too much money and was in love with himself. But worth seeing once.

The next two days we listened to stories, ate some amazing food and enjoyed learning about life in this part of the world. We came away inspired by the stories and thankful for the freedom we have in little old NZ. We take a lot for granted don’t we?

The team from New Zealand left Wednesday morning and we had a bit a break to catch up on some reports and washing. On Thursday James Rees-Thomas arrived and since then we’ve been talking to people and doing lots of listening. James had been to a couple of other locations before arriving here so we’ve caught up on those partnerships as well.

Oh, and Helen had her birthday Wednesday. So after the team left early in the morning we went back to bed for a couple of hours and then had brunch to celebrate. Last year she had it in Myanmar, this year India. One day she'll have one at home!! Maybe.  

Heard a disturbing story of an organisation that came here from the West and sent a bunch of people to start working with the poor. So, they set up a programme for people in a little slum and a bunch of guys who live rough under a bridge. Got some stuff up and running and then left, telling the local church it was now up to them to carry on. In fact, it’s the 3rd time I’ve hear a similar story this trip. Compare that with the previous place we were at where the mission has been going for over 100 years and one woman had been there 58 years! So, there are a lot of issues being faced out here.

We’ve got one more night here and early tomorrow we head back to Bangalore. We’ve got 2 nights and 3 full days there before Helen and James  go home and Kevin heads on to another country, just across the border.

Thanks for listening and following, I’ve thrown up a few photos for you to browse.

Thanks for the messages, we love getting them.

Arohanui

Helen and Kevin


Bypassing a bomb zone

2015-03-14 to 2015-03-19

Well a lot can change in a few days.

By this time Helen will be back in New Zealand and I was supposed to be in Pakistan. However, two bomb blast last Sunday put an end to that. 17 people were killed and many more injured as suicide bombers blew themselves up outside two churches in Youhanabad, a suburb of Lahore. That’s where I was supposed to be going. It happened just a few metres from where our friends live and where I would have been staying.

Our partners in Youhanabad have a scholarship programme there for students who do well at secondary school but who cannot afford to get into tertiary education.  The fathers of 4 of them were injured and one of the fathers died. So it has hit our friends hard and they suggested it would be better is we didn’t come. So with one day’s notice we changed our plans.

The first decision was should we still go to Pakistan and bypass Lahore, just spend our time in Islamabad and Faisalabad. On Monday morning that seemed like the plan, but by the evening the crowds were back on the streets and tit for tat bashings and rioting was picking up and spreading to other cities. So, we pulled the plug on that idea. But, what to do instead?

We checked out the cost of say going to Ethiopia to visit our partner there. But it was too expensive. So, we decided that I would stay on in Bangalore for a few more days writing up reports and stuff and then I would go early to Armenia. But the guys there were not available until Tuesday and I could stay here that long. Long story short, I fly to Dubai Friday and then on to Armenia on Monday, arriving at 2:00 a.m. I’ll get an extra 4 days in Armenia.

Pakistan is a difficult place to visit, it’s the second time in a few months we’ve had to pull the plug on travel there. But it’s a much more difficult place in which to live, especially as a minority group. They get grief from everyone. There is little opportunity or help. The day after the bombing our friend Edward was out and trying to get home with another guy. They were attacked and beaten. They told the police and they just shrugged, nothing they could do. Nothing they wanted to do more like.

And they can’t leave. Everyone you talk to there, especially the young people are trying as hard as possible to leave. But they can’t get passports as they are Christians. They can’t leave, they can’t live, not a lot of choices really. I’m not complaining, I’m just frustrated that millions of Christians don’t get a fair deal.

Since arriving here on Sunday morning we have interviewed a number of potential partners. Currently they are studying but one day they will leave and do great things. We’re getting to know them and will follow some of them later.

We also revisited T Raja and did the official opening of the children’s wing for abandoned children. It’s both a great place and a sad lace at the same time. One little guy was given a name and it was lovely to see Grasie again. She is turning into a beautiful young woman. The first time we met her she was just a little girl who have been rescued from a rubbish dump. But not before a dog had attacked her and torn out one eye. She is still self conscious like most teenagers, but has a lovely gentle nature.

Tuesday evening we headed out to the airport and said goodbye. James and Helen hopped on Singapore Airlines flew away. I was supposed to be flying out the other direction, but’s that’ tomorrow’s chore! We’ve got one partner in Dubai so at last I’ll get some time with him, hopefully.

I’ll sign off and get back to reports. It’s Cricket World Cup time and I’ve just come from a room full of Indian young men watching their team score a few runs against Bangladesh. They are pretty passionate about. My goodness. I would hate to be there if they were losing, unless it was against NZ of course!

I"ve changed the map and added a few pix too.

Lots of love

Helen and Kevin


It just doesn't stop

2015-03-20 to 2015-03-25

Somehow I keep losing track of time, maybe it’s going faster, or slower or I’m just getting old!

Actually, this has been a slower week. There has been a little less activity in terms of lots of partners to visit, but because of the changes in travel plans, I’ve had a little down time. I’ve been catching up on deferred mail and reports. Heather in the office will love me, I’ve sent her a bunch of stuff to do.

Right now I’m in Armenia. Since the last blog I had a couple more days in Delhi and hit the writing. Then Friday I flew over to Dubai for 3 nights and more writing. I also had a chance to catch up with one of our partners. He is Jordanian and has just relocated Dubai, so it was great to catch up with Safa for a few hours.

Monday I caught the bus from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and then flew to Armenia, arriving in Yerevan at 3:00 a.m. Tuesday seemed like a really long day. Of course in Armenia the last meal of the day is around 10:00 p.m. so I staggered into bed tired and stuffed full.

I’ve got to Armenia a few days earlier than expected. There is a team of 5 here from Australia so I’ve just fitted into that. I hang out with them and participate in what they are doing. But I take time out when I need to as well. Today I was able to follow up a couple of new leads for the future, people I’ve met since being here. One is into Moldova – the poorest country in Europe and if you can tell me the capital city, you can win next winter in Moldova in a tent! The other is into Lebanon. I met a lovely guy here who is pastoring an Armenian church in Yerevan. He was born in Lebanon, escaped years ago to Cyprus with is family, then to Greece. He then married a girl from Armenia and shifted back to Yerevan. He has just returned from a trip to Lebanon and wants to take me there later in the year to explore opportunities.

The conversations in Armenia constantly come back to two events:

  1. The fighting in the Middle East and refugees – these refugees are everywhere and their circumstances are appalling. We’ve meet many of them in the last 2 days. 3 really nice teenage guys were here yesterday and their stories are heart breaking. Not one ounce of hope for the future. Their lives are on hold. They can’t go to school, they live in the basement of a church with 300 other people. Their once wealthy parents are depressed and on medication they can’t afford….. the list of issues just goes on and on. And, according the politicians in the West, there is no persecution of Christians going on. It’s just random violence. The system is so corrupt and dysfunctional these people suffer again and again at the hands of many of those whose job is to help them.

  1. The Armenian genocide – officially started on the 24th April 1915. Those of you from NZ and Australia will possibly recognise the date! One day before our boys were lead to the slaughter at Gallipoli, the Turkish army began a pogrom against Armenians that saw up to 1.5 million people slaughtered. These guys made IS look like boy scouts.

So what’s going on in the Middle East right now is just another episode in the long drawn out serial abuse of Christian minorities.

Tomorrow the group is going to the Genocide Museum. I’m not sure I’m looking forward to that. I’ve been to too many genocide museums. And too many war cemeteries.

As a kiwi who had a number of great uncles fight at Gallipoli and one killed there, I’m caught in this juxtaposition. I’m trying to deal with the futility of war and the inhumanity of these tragedies of history, and cope with the intolerable situations and desperate vulnerability of so many in real time. And I have to say, I’m more that disappointed with the agencies whose role it is to help.

You might be able to tell I’m more than a little frustrated and peeved right now. I’ll get over it. But, guys, we’ve got to get off our butts and make a difference. I’m going to be writing to some pollies when I get home and visiting some about taking Christians as refugees into New Zealand. I’m going to try to encourage a few in the next few days, BHW is going to get involved with more of these refugee families.…….. and while you contemplate what helping might look like for you, thanks for listening to my rants.

With much love from Armenia

Kevin and Helen

p.s. missing my girl


In the shadow of Mount Ararat

2015-03-25 to 2015-03-31

My time in Armenia is about to end, in a couple of hours I’ll be at Yerevan airport about to head back home. It’s been an interesting few days with lots to see and experience. Some of the highlights have been:

Visiting the Genocide Museum and memorial - it’s left a terrible scar on the collective memories of Armenians, a defining moment in their modern history. And as I mentioned last time, the return of refugees from Syria makes it all the more poignant for them. Mount Ararat is a serioulsy big mountain. It dominates Yerevan, when there are no clouds. But, becuase it used to be in Armenia but now in Turkey, it's a constant, festering reminder of oppression.... and hope.

Meeting a lot of Syrian refugees - Razmig is a silversmith and made beautiful pieces in Damascus. Unbelievably beautiful things with high price tags ordered from all over the world. Now he cannot afford the tools or the silver to work with and there is no one in Yerevan to buy it anyway. Two other young men also told me their stories of frustration and depression.

Visiting Lake Servan – what a beautiful place. The snow was down to the lake and it was a perfect day. The place sparkled in the sunlight. A church overlooking the lake was built in 305 A.D. People tend to forget the ancient nature of Christian faith.

Revisiting Vanadzor – mmmm this is the opposite of Lake Servan, no sparkle in this drab earthquake zone. And not a lot of sparkle inside the desperately cold tin shacks many locals live in. Abject poverty in -30 degrees C is no fun I assure you and they are just emerging from winter like hibernating bears. Life is understandably slow in the winter and early Spring. But it’s hard to keep the sparkle and mischief out of kid’s eyes, some of them were just gorgeous….  and quite unwell.

Seeing a few people making headway – a couple of families stand out. There were pictures in the last blog of one family and yesterday we met another one. We ate bread straight out of the oven with honey from their 4 beehives. The bees were providing a nice supplement to their diet and income until a cell tower was erected nearby and the bees took off, for good. All the bees in the village of 600 families. I don’t understand it, but it’s the kind of stuff they have to deal with all the time. It’s like farming in the Middle Ages in some of these rural towns.

Meeting many families who are finding faith in the midst of desperation - Syrian refugees, widows and young women whose husbands have gone to Russia to find work and never returned, young people from Syria who want to follow Christ and go back one day to rebuild peoples’ lives. One day there was a baptism when 24 people were baptised in a hot spring. Deep, permanent life change…. Awesome.

Preaching in a Baptist church jam packed full - there was a large group of Iranian Christians there that morning. It’s holiday, New year in Iran and many Christian leaders come to Armenia for a camp. They are severely persecuted at home and it’s a real break for them and so encouraging. They were leaving on Monday to go home and as they talked about it the tears began to flow.

So, it’s been a full on week. Along with all this positive stuff I’ve had to be here with 6 Australians at the very time we are beaten in the Cricket World Cup final. Oh guys, do you know what that’s like!!! Actually, they were very gracious, more than ca be said for some of their team by the sound of it.

Anyway, I’m about to head away. I overnight in Dubai and then it’s the gruelling 14 hours to Melbourne, a wait and then on to Auckland arriving mid afternoon Thursday. Can’t wait to get home, especially as Jared and Ruth with Hugo and Joel are coming back to NZ for a couple of weeks, arriving on Saturday. So there will be lots of nanny and poppa time to recharge the emotional batteries.

Thanks for following along and may Easter be real special for you this year, because of Jesus.

Love

Helen and Kevin.


Ready, steady, GO

2015-04-04 to 2015-05-07

Heck, I’m not sure where to start with this next episode. As you have probably guessed, I got back to New Zealand and Jared, Ruth, Hugo and Joel came in a couple of days later. We had such a lovely time with them. And since then it’s been full on. Sara and Karl came with Coco, we ran a day event for Bright Hope World (BHW) donors in Auckland, Kevin spent a couple of days on a friend’s boat with two mates and then we did a trip through the North Island of New Zealand. We visited Sara and Karl and Coco, we met 3 of our BHW facilitators, took a meeting in Waipukurau with about 30 people, met with some church leaders in Wellington, took another meeting there with 18 people, visited friends in Levin and spoke at a church. It was a whirlwind 7 days.

Now we’re back home in Auckland: we leave tomorrow for the next leg of our journey. Feel free to join us and share with anyone else who might be interested or who might know us.

Check out the map to see where we’re off to, but in summary it’s like this:

We both fly to Los Angeles tomorrow. We overnight with Jared and Ruth who live pretty near the airport. Helen stays with them till next Wednesday and then heads across the USA to attend the wedding of her nephew and comes back on Sunday. Kevin overnights in LA and then flies off to Bolivia for a week. Then it’s almost 2 weeks in Peru, arriving back in LA on the 28th May.

We then have a week with the family in LA before heading off for just over 2 weeks around the USA visiting BHW supporters and friends. We’ll tell you about them as we go. Then (boo hoo) we split up for a long time. Helen returns to LA from Chicago for a few days before heading back to NZ. Kevin goes on to:

Ottawa - Canada to visit a sister organization

Rome – Italy for an international conference that a number of our partners attend. 2 others from Bright Hope World will be there as well

Cairo – Egypt to visit an existing partner and a couple of other potential ones that he visited in December last year

Mozambique – Kevin meets two of the BHW team in Johannesburg and they head off to visit 3 partners in Mozambique for 8 days.

Madagascar – one of the BHW guys leaves and Kevin and John visit partners and train about 30 people in Foundations for Farming deep in the south of the country

South Africa – to finish the trip it’s 5 days in South Africa visiting a couple of partners and catching up on reports.

The last part of the trip sees us apart for more than 5 weeks, not an ideal scenario. So we would value your prayer and encouragement. We hate being apart but sometimes it kind of works out that way. Back together at the end of July.

Lot’s of flights – 35 for Kevin. Many people to meet. A lot of meetings with great people. It makes us tired thinking about it, but we do it one day at a time and God works out the details. We expect that there will be many unexpected “God appointments” we could not have organised. In fact we depend on that to happen. Every day will be an adventure with many surprises.

So buckle up, we’re off. We’ll catch up with you from time to time.

Warm regards

Kevin and Helen.


Hasta Manyana

2015-05-08 to 2015-05-12

Hey there from Kevin in Camiri, Bolivia and Helen in Los Angeles. Helen has been spending time with Jared and Ruth, Hugo and Joel ad is loving her time. She’s playing soccer with Hugo, bike riding, taking Joel for walks and chasing humming birds around the park. Tomorrow she is off to Cleveland. Her sister Alison’s son, Jeromy is getting married there on Saturday. So it’s more family time. She flies back to LA on Sunday. Next blog she’ll fill us in on the wedding.

Meanwhile I’ve flown south to Bolivia. We had a good flight with some sleep from Auckland to Los Angeles and overnighted with Jared and Ruth. We had so much fun that night, I was sad to leave at 4:00 a.m. next morning. Saturday I flew to Panama City and then on to Santa Cruz in Bolivia with Carl and Margie Daniel and Tim Wells. They are the South America field facilitators for Bright Hope World. It’s my first time in South America, so it’s going to be a different adventure for me and I’m glad they are with me.

We arrived late Saturday night in Santa Cruz, grabbed a burger and got to bed around midnight. Next morning it was off to church and then a 4 hour drive south to Camiri. BHW has been involved here for years. I have heard so much about this place from Rob Purdue, it was good to finally see the farm, the Bible School and the trades training centre we have been involved with. Also good to meet people whose names I’ve heard for so long. In the afternoon we looked around, caught up with the key people and went to church again.

So, Monday and Tuesday have now passed. Tomorrow I’m off into the bush and can’t be sure of internet until we get back to Santa Cruz on Friday night. So, I thought it wold be good to drop a note before heading out there.

Some things I’ve noted:

  1. The bridge across the river to the farm from Mark and Carol Mattix’s place is pretty scary. I can’t imagine how scary it would have been for the years before this good bridge was built.
  2. Jaime is a single guy who runs the farm, he came to New Zealand to learn dairy farming about 13 years ago and is running the biggest dairy farm in the district.
  3. Many Christian workers have been helped at the farm while at Bible School.
  4. There is a vibrant Christian youth movement going on here. There are a lot of young people and children in the churches.
  5. We have met a number of church planters since being here. They are inspiring and most have a great balance between helping people and leading them into being followers of Jesus.
  6. The church planters we have met are largely almost self supporting. One guy we saw today has an unbelievable story about how God has provided for him. Persecution from the established church, political and police attempts to have him stopped, accusations and imprisonment, his kids thrown out of school by the religious authority. And yet, his peace is amazing, many people come to him for counsel, one of his accusers dropped dead after falsely accusing him of something. After his timber was stolen by the police, someone gave him some land with 3 times the amount of timber on it…. the stories just go on and on.
  7. Past missionaries from New Zealand are highly respected here. I have met some of them and know many of their names, but they have left a positive legacy here. It’s legendary stuff and now the locals are going for it in very effective ways. There are not many Westerner left here.

And so I’m very encouraged by the calibre of the people I’m meeting.

Hasta manyana

Kevin and Helen 


Viva la diferencia

2015-05-13 to 2015-05-17

The last few days have gone past in a blur, mainly from the passenger seat of a 4wd Toyota. Wednesday morning we left Camiri for San Juan, a little village about 11 hours across the Grand Chacos then up a long winding river valley, crossing the same river 80 times. However, we weren’t far into the trip and realised that this was not going to happen. The “good” part of the road, the bit that was supposed to take 5 hours was a sloshy river of mud and so we called the family in San Juan and asked them to come to Monteagudo, about half way, and meet us there. After more than 6 hours we arrived in Monteagudo. They arrived after 7 ½ hours travel. So the 11 hours would have taken us 14 and then we would have had to driven back the next day!

As we were driving through the mud, a little old man appeared at the side of the road. Tino our driver knows everyone in the area. We stopped to greet the man, as you do. We wound down the window in my door and said “hola.” He stared back at us with rheumy eyes, more than a little confused. He giggled and smiled a vacant sort of smile, waved and walked away. Tino was a little shocked and then told us the story as we surged on through mud

The little guy was from the Guarani (pr. Warani) people. I’ll call him L. he and his friend J were good friends and leaders in a large Guarani community. They became followers of Jesus and for many years were faithful men. They took the good news to their people and most of that tribe became followers of Jesus.

They were very poor and Tino and his team were supporting them and training them about money, development, growing gardens and that sort of thing. They were doing well, their kids were going to school, the school was doing well and the villages were healthy. For 5 years Bright Hope World was assisting these 2 men with some income to get them through the development transition. The children were growing up and Tino thinks that within a couple of years the community would have become self sustaining, they were almost at that point.

Then the politicians came along. They told the villagers that if they voted for their party they would never have to work again and the State would take care of them because they were indigenous people. They gave L a large monthly allowance and J was made mayor of the area with no training and a large salary. Within months the village stopped growing anything, the families moved to town and booze and drugs became part of their lifestyle. J’s wife left him as he became unfaithful and corrupt. The children went wild. They are all drug addicts now and J is dead, his brain coddled (cooked slowly.)

Tino was very sad as we drove away from his old friend. L was now living by himself, a lonely, old, drug addicted fool, when it could have all been so different.

It made me pretty sad too. It pointed out in living, sad and dirty relief the difference between dependency and development. 

Thursday morning we interviewed Eli and Raquel. They chose to go live in San Juan in 2011 to introduce people to a new way of life as followers of Christ. And the changes are starting to make impact. A few years ago we helped them buy a little carpentry business and that supports them. They also make honey. Their life consists of making friends, leading Bible studies, helping people in need, making furniture and generally loving the town. 

Then and drove back across Incawasi mountain to Camiri. The rain had stopped, the mud was sticky and the trip was a little quicker. This is an oil and gas area and the huge trucks plough up the road. We had a couple of meetings that night and Friday morning I had time to catch up on some reports and emails.

Friday we drove another 5 hours from Camiri to Santa Cruz, arriving around 7:00 pm. Then to bed and up at 3:00 and to the airport. We took off for Lima, Peru at 5:40, about a 2 ½ hour flight. Then it was immigration and Customs and into another line for the flight to Cajamarca in the north of the country. So that’s where I am right now with a lovely couple, Godofredo and Teresa. Their story is so amazing, maybe I’ll tell you that one next time.

Meanwhile, Helen has been with the kids in LA and yesterday was at a family wedding in Cleveland. Her nephew was married so it was a lovely time for her to be there with her sister and family.

We’re missing each other heaps. But, we don’t start counting down the days until it gets into single figures!

So, from a cold city called Cajamarca it’s, hasta luego

Warm regards

Kevin and Helen 


Machu Picchu

2015-05-18 to 2015-05-23

Godofredo and Teresa are a lovely couple and great examples of the kind of people we partner with. I loved staying in their home along with Carl and Margie and Tim. We talked a lot and heard the story of them coming to faith and how before long they felt compelled to sell their very successful tourism business and start full time following Jesus. And the outcome of this is clear to see.

They have a lovely home, God provides. They pastor a large church, despite a lot of criticism and division. They help many people in tough places to become agents of change and a number of them have become our partners. We met many of them in the last week and their vision and stories are very inspiring. They oversee a group of 13 churches around the country with new ones in the pipeline. At the home of one partner we were served a beautiful meal, check the pictures. 

We spent most nights talking late into the night as they are busy people during the day. There are people and needs coming at them from every direction. We met many of their family as well who live with them, Aaron their 15 year old grandson who loves to write songs, Katia their daughter who is a dentist and her son Matias who is the policeman at school (4 years old) and pretty much runs the house as well. We laughed a lot and cried some too as they talked about the impact of Jesus on their marriage and their family. Real gold.

At the moment I’m sitting in a little room in a city in the south oh Peru called Cusco. We flew here on Thursday and were met by a couple whom we are considering as potential partners. They took us out to their house which also serves as a Bible School. Their story, though very different to Godo and Teresa’s was very moving. Noe and Naomi are doing the hard yards of impacting their world. We left with a lot to think about and some lovely new friends.

And then the Incas. We ran into their story in Cajamarca visiting the spot where the Spaniards met and began the destruction of the Inca Empire. It truly is a shocking story. From all accounts the Incas were not warlike or particularly savage. They had a very developed culture and their engineering is the stuff of legend.

Then we came to Cusco and on Friday I went with Carl and Margie to Machu Picchu. It truly is an astonishing place. How did they build it? You can see all the visitors scratching their heads and thinking the same thing. Outstanding, I never thought I would see this.  This morning we spent some time looking at more Inca ruins and walking along narrow Inca streets of Cusco. I love the plazas at centre of towns. However, I am now officially sick of rocks, however beautifully they have been engineered and shaped.

I was supposed to be out in another village by now for a night. However, one of our team members, Tim is not well and it would be no fun for him to be here by himself. Carl and Margie who speak Spanish have gone out there and I’ve stayed behind. It’s a good chance to catch up. It’s hard to keep warm though. It’s like a fridge in my room and there is no heater.

I’ve only got one more day here in Cusco, then 3 in Lima and I’m on my way back to LA. Helen is full on baby sitting and entertaining Hugo and Joel while I’m here and says she’ll be glad to see me again!

So friends, thanks for your interest and prayers, we do so appreciate them. The notes and emails are great as well. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Love and WARM regards

Kevin and Helen


having a break in LA

2015-05-24 to 2015-05-28

Helen and I are together now in Los Angeles catching up with Jared and Ruth and Hugo and Joel. It’s great to have a break from the travel for a few days, 7 days in one place! In the same bed!

Since being in Cusco and visiting Machu Picchu we had 3 days in Lima with partners there. The team flew to Lima on Monday and we spent the afternoon with our partners – Segadores - it means Sowers. Their total focus is the tribal people of the Amazon and as they shared with us we heard many amazing stories of the issues the tribal people face. Many of the tribes are only a few hundred people.

So we spent time with Antonia and her work with children in the bush. It’s a hard place to live for people who are not brought up there. We also visited a programme she runs amongst urban poor kids, they live on the sides of rocky hills with little to live on and fractured families.

We heard from Saul and Clara who work with the tribal people and also with a church in the local poor area of town. We went to church with them one night and about 100 people came. It was a wonderful service with a lot of variety and the best worship band I’ve heard for years.

Their daughter, Juliana is part of the band and is on a BHW scholarship studying business. She a lovely young woman and is going to be a real asset to her church and Segadores in the future. It was great to hear her passion for young people and the fun they have at the camps they run.

There are a number of Romanian people working in Segadores. Two families and the wife of the leader here, Oscar. We heard their stories as well and were inspired by their dedication and willingness to work in tough terrain with very little support from home. I’ve got some thinking to do about all that.

Oscar is an inspiring guy. He leads Segadores but would rather be out in the bush with the tribal people. But his daughter is not well and can’t live there – allergies and food intolerance. We spent a lot of time with him. Loved his infectious sense of humour and fun. And his strong love for the work of God among the people.

Lima is a crazy place of 10 million people. 2 impressions – an amazing number of Chinese restaurants and the dryness. It gets less than 3 mm of rain a year and is a desert. Who would choose to live in a desert.

But in this dry and teeming city we met such wonderful people.

It was my first time in South America and I Have to say that I really enjoyed it. Met some wonderful people and ate some great local food. Now we have to process all that we saw. We have some decisions to make about some of the things we saw. The main one is about how to support these people without creating dependency. They told us some of their thoughts, but they are not positioned well or endowed with a lot of people able to lead that.

My greatest impression is that there are a lot of people with real kingdom focus. However, they are so focused on the present and are so involved with people that they have not established great structures for the future. Some are getting a little long in the tooth so there is some urgency for this to be done sooner rather than later. In some cases there are foreign missionaries involved and one wonders what will happen when they leave or pass on and their money is no longer available. Mmmmm.

So, we’re having a bit of a break before we head off again next Thursday. I’ll fill you in then on the next part of the journey.

Hey, please don’t stop praying just because we’re having a break?

Love and God bless.

Kevin and Helen 


USA trek

2015-05-29 to 2015-06-07

It’s Sunday morning and I’m up early finalising a message for later today at a church in Seattle, Washington State, USA. It’s another beautiful morning, the sun is just peeking through the trees, it 5:45 a.m. What a beautiful part of the world this is. The squirrel's are out and the humming birds are flitting around searching for nectar. 

We’re doing OK though our break in LA is over and we’re on our way on the next leg of our journey. We had a lovely time with Jared and Ruth, Hugo and Joel. My word, those two little guys can make a LOT of noise. We had so much fun with them, swimming, cycling and playing at the local playground. We’ve missed them a lot since leaving on Thursday.

Jared took us to the airport early Thursday morning and we flew to Portland. There we stayed with Dave and Kim Lawson and family for a night. They are kiwis living in the USA and pastoring a church. That night we had a meeting with a group from the church planning to begin partnership with BHW and a trip to Thailand and India.

Friday Dave drove us through to Seattle and we’ve had meetings with Valley Church here. They partner with BHW in 5 partnerships in Peru and Uganda. It was great to be able to share with the leadership yesterday and then today to speak to the church. We’re staying with Tom and Joyce, a lovely couple who have opened their home to us. We spent yesterday afternoon looking around Seattle, a beautiful city. It’s a fascinating place, lots of activity in the centre city markets.

Later today we head over to Denver, Colorado for one night. Then it’s on to San Antonio on Monday and then Tuesday we hit Dallas for a few days. We’re catching up with friends of BHW and churches that we partner with. There will be a lot of talking and storytelling and making of plans for later in the year.  We’re over the flights and the airports, but the people we are meeting are just great and we’re so encouraged by their interest and generosity.

After Dallas we go on to North Carolina and Chicago with more of the same, visiting people who are interested in BHW. It’s not the normal kind of travelling for us. The beds are much more comfortable and the travel a little less hazardous. But it’s an important part of the total picture, to talk to those who support our partners. It’s encouraging to know that so many people are involved in this thing we call Bright Hope World.

Thanks for hanging in there for this part of the trip. We’re so thankful you are in there with us as we seek to make a difference in the lives of the poor.

Love and blessings

Kevin and Helen


Out and about in the USA

2015-06-07 to 2015-06-14

I don’t really know where to start on this blog other than to say it’s been a whirlwind and we’ve met so many great people. Let me review the week:

Sunday last week saw us speaking at Valley Church in Seattle. There seemed to be a good response to us updating the church about the 5 partnerships they are involved in. After that we caught a bite to eat at a fast food joint with some of the church people and then headed out to the airport.

Sunday night we spent in Denver. We were supposed to meet someone there but they pulled out after we had booked the tickets so it was cheaper to find a hotel than to change the tickets. It was wild, wet and windy and we had to circle the airport for an hour before landing with the threat of having to go to Colorado Springs instead. But we landed OK and stayed at a hotel near the airport. Colorado is beautiful, huge mountains of course but huge flat plains covered in grain.

Monday became a day off, we lazed around a bit, caught up on emails etc and then in the evening flew to San Antonio. There we stayed with Chad and Shelley. They are BHW donors and we chatted and visited Chad’s coffee business. The hospitality has been awesome, such generous people, it’s a real testimony to their faith. Shelley is a paediatrician and very busy but she made us feel very welcome. We arrived in Dallas late after many delays and a flight change!

Our good friend John Stanley was at the airport to meet us and we spent the next 4 nights with John and Ginny. Again, we were spoilt by their hospitality. While in Dallas we had meetings with the leaders of Chase Oaks Church about partnerships in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. We met with a number of people who have been with us to Africa and renewed some friendships. One guy is the pastor of another large church in Pennsylvania and we have an invitation to go there and explore partnership next time we are in the USA. It was lovely to be in the same bed for 4 nights and to go to their weekend service on Friday night before flying out to the East.

Saturday saw us at Dallas airport around midday for a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina and then on to Charlottesville, Virginia. What a beautiful country this is. Flying over it is very impressive. Bob Emery met us at the airport and took us home. His wife is not here so we’re batching for a couple of days with him, mind you, we’re doing very well. This morning we spent time talking through the Middle East and sharing together. Bob knows his way around there and a lot of people. So we’ve been working through ways to become involved and planning visits for later this year and next.

This part of the trip is creating a lot of processing. So many things to think and pray about. A lot of people to contact and to start developing relationships with. But that’s why we came here so we can’t complain.

Did I say that’s it’s hot, well into the 30s and humid in San Antonio, Dallas and Charlotte. So we’re not spending a lot of time outdoors. And, we are now officially sick of airports and flying!!

Thanks for hanging in there with us. No pictures this time I’m sorry. We’ve only got 5 night’s left together before we split up for 5 weeks so it’s not something we’re very excited about.

Lots of love

Helen and Kevin 


Goodbye North America

2015-06-15 to 2015-06-22

We had a great time in Charlottesville with Bob Emery, two days picking his brains about the Middle East, trying to get our heads around it all. We heard some amazing stories of God at work and a lot of leads to follow up. Charlottesville is a beautiful city.

On Tuesday we flew up to Chicago for 2 nights with good friends Mike and Anita. We first met them in Uganda when they came on a trip in 2007. Had a great time just hanging out and solving all the world’s problems. They have such generous spirits and we came away on Thursday refreshed.

Thursday morning we drove across Chicago and called into Annies Place. We met Annie about 10 years ago and she now runs a shop for top end recycled clothing; all the profits are given away. Had a lovely time with her and she took us out for lunch. We then found out that one of our India partners was in town about 10 minutes from where we were. So, we shot around the corner and spent some time with Gloria Shaw. It was timely as we had a bit to talk about. Amazing, a God appointment.

Then it was off to the hotel and at 6:00 more friends came and picked us up and went out to dinner at their country club. Again, it was a great time of catching up. We could have talked for many more hours. It’s cool with good friends eh, you just pick up where you left off even after years.

Friday was a bit sad. We checked out at 11:00 and drove slowly over to the airport. Our flights were at similar times, but in opposite directions. This parting stuff isn’t pleasant, especially in airports! Helen headed off to Los Angeles and I spent the weekend in Ottawa, Canada. Bright Hope has an affiliate there and I spent the weekend in talks with them and then spoke at their church this morning before hopping on a flight to Rome. I’m writing this on the plane. I’ll send it when I get there as I have to wait at the airport for about 3 hours for Fraser to fly in and for Rob to pick us up.

I was sitting in church this morning thinking about the different weekend services we have experienced on this trip, it’s kind of weird.

Sunday 1 - I was in a little traditional brethren church in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. One of our partners goes to this church when he is visiting Santa Cruz. A number of NZ missionaries have been involved here over the last 90 years or so - It was all in Spanish and very quiet and reflective – about 50 people at the communion service and another 100 or so were coming in as we left

Sunday 2 – in Cajamarca, an independent church in Spanish and Qechua. Didn’t get much of the sermon, it was a contemporary service. The pastor there is one of our partners – about 150 people, they get about 350 in 3 services.

Sunday 3 – Cuzco – didn’t go to a church. Tim wasn’t feeling well so we rested up at the hotel while Carl and Margaret were out in a village

Sunday 4 – Los Angeles with Jared, Ruth, Hugo and Joel. They are going to an independent church – the sermon was great – about 300 people I guess

Sunday 5 – spoke at a Missionary Alliance Church in Seattle. Lovely people and a good reception to the message. They partner with us in Uganda – about 120 people

Sunday 6 – actually it was a Friday evening, Chase Oaks Church in Plano, Texas. There were about 450 people, they get about 9,000 on a weekend in 4 services in the same building and 3 other campuses. This is the church I preached at a couple of years ago and they partners with us in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda

Sunday 7 – Baptist church in Ottawa, Canada. Shared about Bright Hope for about 10 minutes. One of our key partners in Canada, Connie and Wilf Wight attend this church and had set it up – about 75 people I guess but they have a Spanish and Arabic service as well.

It’s been a diverse, varied trip so far and now the fun begins, Africa looms. This time next week I’ll be in Egypt and Helen will be home. The good thing now is that after this flight (number 21 this trip,) every flight is pretty much going towards New Zealand.

Lots of love, bonsoir from somewhere over the Atlantic.

Helen and Kevin 


Rome and broken camera

2015-06-22 to 2015-06-29

It just seems like every spare minute  I’m not flying in a plane or with a partner that I’m at this computer trying keep up with all the info that has to be written. I seem so far behind it’s not funny. I’m sitting in Helwan in the south of Cairo, it’s at least a week since I last wrote. Another week disappears into history. Most of that week was spent in and around Rome.

On arrival in Rome last Monday I was met by Rob and Fraser after a couple of hours in a café. A bunch of other people were flying in from all around the world for the conference I was attending. They said there were around 700 people from about 107 countries. It’s a conference on missions held every 4 years. Last time it was in Strasbourg, France. So, with Fraser and Rob and Heather Purdue we braved the week of meetings, none of us are great conference attendees! Hence the rather large bill at the local café!

Some of the highlights include:

  1. Meeting some of our partners from Pakistan, Jordan, Zambia, Malaysia, Burundi and Mozambique.
  2. Meeting an interesting guy from India who works in the little country of Bhutan
  3. Attending a seminar at which Fraser spoke, he did a fantastic job of it – running businesses to fund mission. Both Rob and I had to chair seminars as well
  4. The snoring at night – there were 4 guys in one room and, right beside me was a guy from South Africa who snored like a chain saw. I had to leave the 4th night as I was severely sleep deprived.
  5. A day of sightseeing (Friday) around Rome and the Vatican. It is an amazing place. Saw many of the main places, St Peters and the Vatican, The Colosseuem, The Pantheon. Trevi Fountain though they are renovating it, Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II or the typewriter or wedding cake, numerous beautiful piazzas in Navona and the fountain of the 4 rivers. A pretty cool day seeing places I’ve only ever read about the feature so much in world history.

Our BHW team spent quite a lot of time together discussing future direction and interviewing people. It was valuable for that. The main sessions were average. It’s very hard to get something so large with so many different cultures functioning well. And some of the speakers were probably very good in their own languages, but when they have to speak in front of such a large group in their 2nd or 3rd language it can be a little tiresome.

Friday evening saw Fraser and me parting company at the airport and I headed over to Cairo. It was warm in Rome, here, it’s HOT!

Helen is back in NZ where it’s not quite so warm. She had a great time with Jared Ruth, Hugo ad Joel in Los Angeles. Now we have to wait out the 25 more sleeps till we’re together again. There’s plenty going but it’s not quite the same when we’re apart. At least from now on each flight takes me closer to home and by Wednesday we’ll at least be in the same hemisphere.

The bad news is that I dropped my camera and it’s stopped working. So, with 3 more countries to go after here, I’ll have to buy another cheap one to get me home.

Hope you’re having a great week where you are. Thanks for your company on the way

Helen and Kevin


Egypt and Mozambique

2015-06-30 to 2015-07-04

Today is another day of travel. I’m with Jerry and John, Bright Hope World colleagues and we’ll be flying from Maputo in Mozambique to Nampula, about 2 hours north and then it’s a 3 – 4 hour drive down to the seaside town of Angoche. There we’ll be meeting with our partners, i’ll speak at church tomorrow and check out the agriculture potential. On Monday we’ll be looking at the partnership and Tuesday we have an agriculture seminar with about 150 people.

Since last blog I had 4 days in Egypt. Saturday saw me heading to the south of Cairo to the city of Helwan and a family that is working with families in a garbage town. It’s a desperate place with many issues. They just get alongside families and help them come out of their hopelessness. The place is rank and the smell seeps right into your pores.

Sunday we took 60 kids from garbage city to a waterpark for the day. It was a lot of fun watching the kids playing in the water. For many it’s the first time they have ever seen anything like this. They so loved the freedom to just run around and play.

Monday morning I got on the metro for an hour journey into the centre of Cairo. At about the same time a bomb went off in the part of Cairo I was supposed to be on Tuesday and the chief prosecutor of Egypt was assassinated. That meant that on Tuesday the city was closed down. I spent Monday and Tuesday with new partners getting to know them and meeting the first group of students in their newly established vocational training centre. Women are learning hairdressing and next week the men begin and the English course. In another few weeks they will start computer classes and repair of air-conditioners and refrigerators.

I managed to buy a little camera. Tuesday night I got a flight from Cairo to Johannesburg and on Wednesday I met Jerry and John. We overnighted and Thursday we flew over to Maputo. The last two days we’ve been with our friends Patrick and Grace. They are Zambian missionaries here. We knew them when we lived in Zambia back in the 80s. Amazing couple. Since they came here more than 200 new churches have started. Our involvement is helping a bunch of kids from a poor area get educated. Last night we met a lovely couple, here is something about them.

Luis came to the church as a 9 year old. When he finished college there was no way he was going to be able to gain further qualifications so he was brought into the programme for a 7 month course. He completed the course in commerce and almost immediately got a job in a bank, he has been working there for almost 3 years now.  

Florencia also started at church as a young girl, her mother helps with the Kutwanana programme. In 2008 she was allowed to join the scholarship programme. When she finished grade 12 she did a 3 year diploma in chemistry but has not been able to get a job in that area. She currently works at a supermarket.

Luis’s younger brother is now working and they are able to help their parents who are not able to work. Florencia lived with her mum from the time she was 13. Her mother and father split up and her father went back to the village leaving them in the city. She cannot imagine how bad life would have been apart from God and the Kutwanana programme. She is very thankful, as is Luis who becomes very emotional when he talks about it.

Luis and Florencia are planning to marry, hopefully in February. In the meantime they have started supporting an orphan. They have had a hard road but have learned a lot in the process of growing up and just want to help others. They are an engaging couple who laugh a lot.

I just got a message saying that the trip to Madagascar might be off! The airline there has stopped functioning and if we were to go we would have to drive for 4 of the 7 days we intended to be there. So, decisions to make, please pray.

Love to you all

Kevin and Helen.


In the heart of Mozambique

2015-07-05 to 2015-07-10

Last Saturday John, Jerry and I flew from Maputo to Nampula towards the north of Mozambique. Our partner Inacio was there to meet us with his family. We piled out luggage onto the back of his double cab utility vehicle, pickup.

We then drove to Angoche, cramped and uncomfortable for 4 ½ hours. Most of it was in darkness and the roads were terrible. Not a pleasant trip. But we got there OK and settled into the little apartment. Fortunately there was air conditioning as it was pretty warm in Angoche.

Sunday we went to a church of about 150 people who meet under a huge mango tree in the village of Monari. It was crazy, I spoke in English, the Bible was read, sometimes in Portuguese and sometimes in Makhua and then the interpreter was speaking in Koti. I’m not sure if anyone understood anything! I was certainly confused! We then had lunch and visited some gardens on the way back to Angoche. This was preparation for the training we were due to do on Tuesday.

Monday we visited some Koti Madrassas where kids are taught every day to read their own language. They don’t learn it in school so this is a huge boost to them. More than 1,000 kids everyday are being taught. We also spent time preparing for the seminar the next day. Tuesday saw the guys teaching about 150 people about new farming techniques. This is going to be an ongoing place to visit to follow up.

We had to make a call about how we got out of Angoche. It was either drive out on the Tuesday night arriving in Nampula around 9:30, leave at 4:30 the next morning to get there in time for our next flight or, get picked up by MAF for a 30 minute flight. We took the 3rd option and despite the frequent, unseasonal showers we got there OK. Then a 20 minute flight to Pemba where we met our friends. We then spent 2 days hanging out with Chrissy and Suzen Lukanga. We met many of their friends and listened to their stories. Chrissy and Suzen were trained by us back in the 80s in Zambia so we have a long friendship and a lot to catch up on.

They live in pretty poor area and are seeing many people coming to faith. One night we were walking home from church in the dark, about 15 minute walk. There was a black shape beside the path. I thought it was a stump but then it moved. I thought it was a dog but as we came alongside it turned out to be a little girl. Dirty, hungry and crying she was a pitiful sight. Suzen spent some time talking with her, it was lovely to see the conversation and the little girl feel the love.

We left Pemba yesterday and flew to Johannesburg. Jerry went straight home and John goes home today. In a few hours I fly off to Madagascar. My plans there have changed. We’re not going to run the agriculture training as the airline we were to fly on to the south of the country has been very unsettled with strikes and our partner could not get to the location to prepare. The alternative was to drive 2 days over really terrible roads and then 2 days back. Not really an alternative and terribly expensive.

So I’m going to get back to NZ about a week earlier than originally planned. That’s a bonus, but we feel sad that the farmers are not going to benefit from the training for at least another year.

So, this trip is coming to it’s end. There’s still a lot of stories to listen to, I’m really looking forward to hear them in Antananarivo; we’ve never visited our partner there.

In another week I’ll be home. Helen is trying to survive the cold back there. A couple of days after getting home we’ll go to Tauranga to visit Sara our daughter to help with a couple of medical tests for Coco.

It’s great that you’re still following along, thanks for the prayers, we so appreciate it. I’d better get going, I’m writing this in bed before heading off to the airport in a couple of hours.

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen 


Madagascar and home

2015-07-11 to 2015-07-15

I’m sitting in Jo’burg airport waiting for a flight back to New Zealand. I’ve done the 1st flight of 3 today and am in the middle of the 1st of 2 long airport waits. The 1st flight was from Nelspruit to Jo’burg, less than an hour and now a 5 hour wait. Then it’s 10 hours to Perth and a 7 hour wait, then it’s on to Auckland about 7 hours I think. I’ve not bothered looking!

This week has been full and interesting. I overnighted in Jo’burg to last Friday and then Saturday flew to Antananarivo, Madagascar. I spent the next 2 days with our partners there hearing stories and listening to their dreams. I did a little sightseeing, but didn’t see one lemur!

We talked all Saturday afternoon and then I slept in The Refuge Hotel. It’s a quaint little old hotel near to where Yant, the leader of the group lives. The food was astonishing, I was very pleasantly surprised. I spent Sunday morning catching up on writing and laxing a little. The team all went to their various churches. Then in the afternoon we visited a church that is partnering with our partners. This church has 4 groups of people who have access to funding for small business start-ups. We interviewed the pastor, she was a dynamic woman very determined to help the church become the solution to poverty in her parish. She came with us as we visited 4 of the beneficiaries. It was lovely to see the way she related to the people, praying with them and encouraging them.

The 1st one was a guy who has a little bakery in the basement of his house. It’s doing OK though prices are constantly rising. It’s very hard to develop a successful small business in an inflationary society. His little pastries were very nice too!

The 2nd was a couple who got loans to buy electric tools. He makes beautiful furniture. He had a bit of style as well as you’ll see from the photo. Their living conditions are pretty cramped. They had 3 kids but 3 years ago lost an 18 year old son; he just died! We prayed with them.

The 3rd beneficiary was a dynamic woman who was in raptures about the changes the loans have made. She and her husband make wooden blocks with correctly drilled holes. The blocks are fixed to the wall and then wall plugs are attached to the blocks. They make thousands of them in a little factory they established with the help of the loan.

And the 4th was a lady with a little instant photo shop. She bought a camera and printer with the loan and now needs a new printer.

Nice to see people standing on their own feet. The pastor said that the loans were a great boost to people and it has helped them to connect more strongly with their faith and the church.

I spent Monday with the team again talking through plans for the South of country and Foundations for Farming. We had to cancel the seminar. She’s very keen for us to come back. I then flew to Jo’burg and overnighted near the airport. Tuesday I headed over to Nelspruit near Kruger Game Park to check out some potential partners we visited last year. Very impressive, now waiting to get proposals from them. Lovely people. Huge, desperate community. So much fear, mistrust and ignorance about health and living well. Their volunteers just trawl through the community finding people who are housebound, dying, desperately ill and vulnerable. They walk for hours meeting people and coming alongside them.

So, now it’s the last leg of this mammoth trip. So glad to have come to the end of it. My clothes smell from being in the suitcase too long with no chance to air them. My shoes stink from being worn every day for 75 days in all sorts of places! And I’ve run out of undies! Time to come home!

Love you guys and thanks for standing with us. I’ll do a final sign off from this trip in a few days after a couple of days horizontal!

Kevin and Helen 


Getting sorted

2015-09-06

New Zealand in winter, it’s the first time since 2008 we’ve been here in July. Not really liking the weather very much!

Since getting back from South Africa 6 weeks ago it’s been pretty full on. On arrival we went home for a couple of days and then headed off to visit our daughter Sara, her husband Karl and daughter Coco. In fact, we’ve been there twice since coming home. Along with that visited a couple of churches who are donors to Bright Hope World.

We thought we’d drop you a note while home so you get a bit of an insight into life for us back in New Zealand. As well as visiting some donor churches, we have visited a number of our partnership facilitators. We’ve done that in Tauranga and Auckland and a few days ago I was in Hamilton with a new couple that is exploring options with BHW. Next week I’ll be in Wellington and Nelson for a catch up with that crew. Every one of them inspires me with their commitment to our partners.

Last week we were in Christchurch with the team to catch up on a backlog of partnership dialogue and making plans. It was encouraging to be able to start some new partnerships in South Africa, India and Egypt. It’s true, next year we’re doing a lot less travel. We’ve been working towards this for some time and finally it’s coming together. We’re pretty happy about it, especially as it means our great team are now taking parts of the world and the work away from us.

 Back in Orewa, our home town, we are pretty involved at our local church. We’ve been visiting a few people, Kevin is an elder and there have been meetings about the vision of the church. We’re adding on to our church auditorium, taking on new paid team members and talking about starting some church planting in the community. We’re also helping to send a team to Fiji and another team to India. Today was Father’s Day here and Kevin was the speaker.

We leave on our next trip on the 26th September, eeek, that’s only 20 days away! It’s a long trip again, about 10 weeks. There are a number of people traveling with us and there is a lot of coordinating to do. It’s taking a lot of time to set it up. We’ll be in East Africa for 4 weeks, then in the Middle East for 4 weeks. Helen then comes back to NZ and Kevin has almost 2 weeks in India on the way home. At present Kevin’s passport is away getting a visa for The Congo and this week we have to apply for visas online for Kenya.

We just wanted to let you know what’s going on. We have been so encouraged by your notes, by meeting some of you in the last few weeks and your generosity. Thanks so much.

Much love

Helen and Kevin

p.s. Sorry, no photos this time 


No visa / leaving anyway

2015-09-17 to 2015-09-25

It’s that time again, the relentless call of the poor and the lost. So, we invite you to come along and meet some of our partners and the people they work with.

Since last episode it’s been pretty full on. Kevin had a trip to Wellington and Nelson to meet with some of our team. It was great to review a lot of the partnerships and chat through strategy for the coming year. I get so encouraged by meeting them and seeing their commitment to following Jesus and serving the poor. We have a number of new opportunities in development so it was good to talk these through with them.

While in Nelson we heard that an old aunt had died in Levin so I diverted my trip back to Auckland through Levin. It was good to catch up with family and remember Aunty Colleen. I then drove up to Tauranga and for a few days we celebrated Coco’s 2nd birthday. We had a lot of fun and Winnie the Pooh was the hero!

It was good to catch up with our son Jared. He was back in New Zealand for 4 days with work and it was great to have lunch with him. Since he got back to Los Angeles Hugo has had to go to hospital for an operation on his ears and sinuses. It’s hard to be so far away when the kids are hurting.

And now it’s time to leave again. We’ll be glad to get away from the coldest winter we’ve had in New Zealand for some years. We leave on Saturday for East Africa. It’s going to be pretty full on with people with us for almost all of the trip. It starts in Kenya, then on to Ethiopia, Burundi, Uganda and DR Congo. We’re having issues getting visas for the Congo. Kevin’s passport has been away for 5 weeks already. Fortunately he has another one he can use.

We then go on to the Middle East. Most of this leg, which lasts for a month, is looking at new opportunities. We’re expecting to meet some really good people and we expect to have a number of God appointments along the way. We’re planning to be in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Turkey through that time.

At the end of the time in Turkey, Helen comes back to New Zealand and Kevin has a couple of weeks in North India. There he’ll be checking out a number of new opportunities. Hopefully along the way we’ll get to introduce you to some of the great people we meet.

We so much need you to be with us on this trip. There is so much that could go wrong and without your prayer and interest it’s going to be a long 10 weeks.

God bless

Kevin and Helen.


we got our visa for Congo, yeeehaa

2015-09-26 to 2015-10-03

Hi friends from Nairobi in Kenya. It’s warm, very pleasant actually and this note comes to you with warm greetings. It’s over a week since the last blog and a lot has happened, let me fill you in.

We flew from Auckland to Nairobi, you can check out our itinerary on the blog, click on our map. We travelled with Mike Kemps. Mike and his wife Becky are becoming Field Facilitators for Kenya and this is their first foray into the field with us. Becky was all booked to come but they found out that she was pregnant and thought it best not to travel so early on.

We’ve been out to visit a couple of partnerships just outside Nairobi, in Tala. Nice to see the partners again, they are good friends and it’s lovely to stay with them. Out there they have had a few issues to deal with, attempting make a school self sustaining. Good progress is being made. We saw a lot of evidence that schools can become self sustaining with a bit of creativity. Muthui and Hannah have a great work going on with loans and table banking and it’s helping an increasing number of people.

We’re staying in Nairobi at a hostel run by Catholic nuns. It’s pretty nice and in a good location. There are a couple of café’s within easy walking distance. Nice when we have a quiet day and a pleasant place to write reports.

One morning we visited another partnership. Ibrahim and Diane lead a ministry that has a lot going on. It was inspiring to hear of the growth of the work in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan, especially the impact that Foundations for Farming is starting to have.

We flew out to Kisumu and back to visit partners there. They are grappling with getting a small dairy herd going and it’s not an easy task. There’s a lot to contend with that we don’t understand in New Zealand. Their chickens are doing well. We spent a lot of time talking budgets and walking around the local community.

Since being back in Nairobi we’ve met a potential partner who we think will be great, she’s an inspiring woman who trains people in loans and table banking. Others have come to visit us as well, we’ll stay in touch.

The best news of the week was that our visas for the Congo have been granted, with one day to spare. So we are very thankful to God. It would have been a real pain to have tried to reorganise those 5 days.

Today is a bit of a catch up day. Tonight we have a team of 5 coming in from the USA so it’s going to be full on from now until they leave us in a week. We have 3 days with them in Kenya and then 5 days in Ethiopia.

Thanks for praying and sending us notes, we appreciate it all.  The end of this journey still seems a long way off. We’ve been on the road for a week already.

Must away, lunch at the hostel in in a few minutes and if you’re late, there’s nothing left! Mike is off looking at elephants and Helen is scouting for a place for breakfast tomorrow with a larger team who will be jet lagged.

Enjoy the photos 

Helen and Kevin


more visa woes

2015-10-04 to 2015-10-08

I’m not quite sure how many of the countries we intend to visit we’ll actually get to. Yesterday we heard that you now have to apply for a visa in advance to get into Burundi. But, there’s no way we can do that so we’re going to gate crash and see what happens. Actually, I think it’s not everyone who has to apply, but it’s difficult to find out reliable information.

Anyway, the last week has been pretty full on. Last Saturday a team of 5 from Chase oaks Church, Plano, Texas arrived and we spent the next 3 days interviewing young people and some of their guardians in the Mathare Valley. They call it the worst slum in Africa, but it’s improved a lot since we first visited 15 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still way below anything like minimum standard for human occupation, but, there are now only about 500,000 people living there instead of 800,000. The school down in the valley we’ve be involved with for many years is like a little bit of Eden in the midst of the trash heap.

We were encouraged and inspired by the stories the young people told about how their lives have been radically transformed as they have been part of the programme we are involved with there. It’s a 9 month gap programme and it gets these young people out of the valley and helps them put some shape around their lives. There is Bible input, accountability, learning new skills and camaraderie like they’ve never experienced before.

We were also impressed by the calibre of the people involved. Many people have chosen to work in that place for the sake of the children and families there and out of their love for God. It really was inspiring to hear some of their stories as well.

Wednesday morning we packed our bags again, drove out through the crazy Nairobi traffic to the airport. They are doing a lot of work on the airport and it’s pretty chaotic. We were saying that a few years ago, nothing changed much in these countries. But now, every time we come something has changed or is in the process of being changed. The whole terrorism thing has affected these East African countries significantly. The airports are now a shambles.

We flew to Addis and spent a night there. Two more people from the US church had joined us by this stage. We slept and were off to the airport again at 5:30, fortunately! The queues were long and sometimes violent. One of our team was assaulted because he wouldn’t let a guy push into the line in front of 100s of people. But, we got on the plane to Gondar and that’s where we are right now.

I can’t believe that the trip to Gondar was only yesterday. We arrived at the hotel around 10:00 having not had breakfast! Some of the team were hanging out for a coffee. We then had a meeting with the team and our good friend Worku. We planned the 3 days we have in Gondar and then headed off.

First visit was a Care Centre where 55 very vulnerable older people are being fed and encouraged. We spent an hour there and then headed up to the new school Worku is building. The first 37 kindergarten students are in and by this time next year there should be a full complement of around 300. The building is beautiful and we can’t wait to see it full of children.

The main building is slowly developing. By this time next year he hopes to have to ready for the first primary students, grades 1 – 4. After that only one grade per year will be added to the school giving time to develop the facilities as the years pass. It truly is a wonderful thing to see.

Well, that’s enough, we’ll catch you again soon, hopefully from Burundi!

Warm regards

Helen and Kevin


dangerous days in Burundi

2015-10-09 to 2015-10-15

We managed to survive our time in Ethiopia and Burundi and are waiting in Entebbe, Uganda for Kevin to head off to the Congo tomorrow for 5 days.

It’s really hard to know what to write about this time, there has just been so much going on. We finished our time in Gonder, Ethiopia and the team from Chase Oaks Church, USA. They were pretty encouraged by the projects they are supporting, the church planters, the widows and vulnerable and the building of a school to support the ongoing work there. It was great to travel with them. They left last Sunday and Gordon Stewart, from New Zealand flew in. He is looking at the possibility of becoming part of our team to facilitate partnerships in French speaking (francophone) countries. He’s great to travel with. He arrived without his bag but it caught up with him in Bujumbura a day later.

So, he overnighted in Addis and on Monday we headed to Burundi. What a 2 days we had there. Some highlights:

I could go on, but with people like these there is hope in a very dark place. The frustration is of course that NZ / Western news makes fake heroes out of idiots and people of this calibre get not a mention. Oh I wish Western young people could be exposed to people like this, their focus and their tenacity of faith.

We’re keeping well though we are tired and not getting much opportunity to keep up with reports. We were hoping for a day for catchup today, but it turned into a day of trying get cheaper visas. The price of a visa into Uganda was $US50 last time were here and now it’s $US100. And we have to do that twice! What a pain but no way around it.

So, we’re apart for the next 5 days. Not looking forward to that. Helen will be hanging out in Entebbe while Kevin is across the border in Bunia, Congo. We’ll get another report out after that.

So, please keep on praying,

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen 


Out of Congo

2015-10-16 to 2015-10-22

Kevin got back from RD Congo last night with Gordon Stewart. It was an interesting time, Bunia is a strange place. A few impressions:

The place is swarming with UN forces. From the time you land at the airport you are confronted by the constant stream of blue bereted solders, huge white armed vehicles parked at strategic places and 100s of 4WD (mainly new) vehicles all over town.

This is motorbike central. The streets are abuzz with them all day. The driving gets wilder the later you’re out in the evening.

It’s a beautiful country, the scenery is stunning. Two flights across Uganda and into RD Congo in a small plane make for amazing vistas.

The bureaucracy is appallingly stupid. We got charged 50 cents for them to inspect our yellow fever documents on the way in and guess what, they charged us again inspect them on the way out!

We met some wonderful people. George and Jaqueline and their 2 kids, Divine, Deborah, Daniel, David and 2 year old Dora. D for Dieu for God. They have just shifted back from Kenya. They left here as refugees in the early 2000s and he has come back as a PhD in theology. He has come back to challenge the status quo in the understanding of local churches about their role in the world, in the community and in development and poverty.

Mozart, an amazing guy who now has 450 kids in schools and about 200 really vulnerable young people in his care.

Vibrant church – not all are like this know. But on Sunday we were at the second service. The first service in Swahili had 700+ people and the second in French had over 1,000 in the building we were in and more in another building. The singing was amazing!

The poverty – as bad as it gets. One family I will not forget. Mum was probably in her late 30s but looked 60. She was married to a man who was killed in the war. She ran to Bunia from her village 100 kms away with 3 young children. She came with her mother and her mother’s sister who are now in their late 60s I imagine. Mum is bedridden with a stroke. Mum remarried and had another child to a bloke who ran away. So she has 4 of her young children living there. Then her sister died, leaving 4 kids who she took into her home. So, 2 old women, one tired and worn out younger woman and 8 children under the age of 12! Mud hut, no income, no electricity. They had a small garden up to a few months ago until someone else took it, including all they had planted on the land. No safety, no help, no security, no advocate.

As I said, as bad as it gets.

Helen had to hang out in Entebbe as it’s so expensive to go to the Congo. She’s been catching up with stuff and a lot of emails. We’re into Kampala for a few meeting in the next couple of days. Saturday we head to Egypt. Thanks for hanging in there with us.

Helen and Kevin.


Invisible women

2015-10-23 to 2015-10-31

Hi, it’s pretty hard to keep up with what’s going on at the moment. Since last blog we had a few days in Egypt and now we’re in Lebanon.

Egypt was interesting. We met some great people from NCEC, a church in Nasr City. Nasr City has about 2.5.million people and  there are 4 churches! 10 -12% of the city is Christian, around 300,000 people. The Christians there are a real minority even with those numbers and made to feel inferior. They are such wonderful people and passionate about their God. They talked a lot about the things they are doing and we were inspired. They are so fabulously hospitable. They gave us an apartment to stay in and provided meals.

We also drove an hour south and visited another partner who is working with people in a town where all the people are rubbish collectors. 15% of them are Hep C positive and many are very unwell. Few go to school and when they do they are told to sit at the back because they smell. It’s a very desperate place. The whole place smells like a rubbish tip. It was great to spend time with this inspiring couple who choose to go and help these people.

We had time to visit the pyramids in Giza and the museum. It’s a great place and gives one a sense of historical perspective.

Then to Lebanon. It’s very different again. Recent trauma, a lot of instability and more ancient history. We’re staying with an inspiring kiwi woman. She works with the “invisible women” of the Gulf and Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of poor women from all over the developing world come here to work and many of them end up in trouble and even prison. They are often lonely, trapped in apartments working as slaves, often being violated and abused and separated from home. It’s a very difficult situation for many people. She advocates for them, gives them resources to watch and listen to and befriends them. Just yesterday she was able to tell a Filipino woman in prison that her boss was going to pay her the money owed to her plus some and send her home to her family. The guy’s wife would hit her and spit at her and then accused her of stealing something. This is often what happens.

We are meeting some interesting people here. 25% of the population are Syrian refugees. It’s such a terrible situation here and in Syria. The issue dominates the whole region. As an aside from this, many ongoing local ministries have lost donors who are now giving their money to refugees. Ministries are closing down, people are losing jobs and missionaries are returning home. The whole region is being distorted.

Well, we’re off in a few minutes to have a look around the centre of Beirut and to get some local food.

Catch you later.

Helen and Kevin


Reactions

2015-11-01 to 2015-11-05

We’re leaving Jordon early tomorrow morning to cross over into Israel by road at Allenby Bridge. It’s Friday and the border closes at 10:30 a.m. but we’re only an hour away in Amman.

Some thoughts about the last few days. How do you react when:

you’re asked to speak to 120 Iraqui refugees and you’re standing in front of them 1 minute later. And, what do you say? What can I say that means anything? What have I got in common with people who have seen things, experienced things no human being should ever have to witness and had unspeakable things done to them. What have I got in common with people from Babylon, Nineveh and Mosul, who are Syrian Coptics, Catholics and from Chaldean Christian churches!

you wake up in Amman to find that someone has got into our credit card details and has spent about $6,000 on food in London!

a Kurdish, Syrian. Moslem refugee woman tells you that the war in Syria is a godsend because they have lost everything, but in the process have found faith in Jesus. Humbling. how little we in the West understand what's happening in Syria and surrounding countries. 

you’re packed into a church building with over 200 people and you find out that 80% of the congregation are Moslems finding out about Isa, Jesus the true prophet, Son of God. Pretty blown away actually. Flippin amazing.

you go out to lunch with a guy who has spent his life serving his people. He’s a Bedouin who could be retired and we’d just spent a couple of hours handing out food to Iraqui refugee families. And you ask how he’s feeling and he bursts out sobbing and weeps for the plight of these people. He and Father Emmanuel, the Syrian Coptic priest are in agony about the women and that many of them turn to prostitution in desperation.

You are talking to a man in his 40s and he tells you his 8 year old daughter still has 7 months of treatment to complete as she has cancer and he has no money left. He’s a refugee from Iraq, and now this. What do you say? How do you respond?

This is a disturbing place. Jordan and Lebanon are a haven for so many. But at the local, family level there is great trauma and ongoing tragedy. I am finding that these people have a faith that is much more resilient than mine. That suffering produces something that no amount of security and money can produce. 

I really want that something, but i'm not sure i want the process that produces it. Nor do I really understand what that looks like where I come from. 

We also had a great time visiting the city of Byblos in Lebanon and exploring the Crusader castle. We also visited the city of Jarash in Jordan that has probably the best preserved Roman city in the world. Really cool. Disappointed not to get to Petra, next time!

Next time in Israel!

Warm regards

Helen and Kevin 


West Bank and Turkey

2015-11-06 to 2015-11-13

It’s pretty hard to keep up right now. There is a lot going on in Bright Hope World and by the time we spend all day with people, come home and answer emails and then try to write reports, the days are just not long enough! We're in Samsun, on the Black Sea in Turkey. It seems a pretty prosperous place. It’s one of the 4 places that refugees are sent in Turkey when they are processed through the UN. 

We met some lovely people here, generous and passionate about their work. It’s been great to spend time with them. Later today we fly back to Istanbul and tomorrow we head over the Sea of Marmara to Yalova and more people to meet.

Since last blog we spent 5 days in Israel, 4 of them in Bethlehem on the West Bank and 1 in Tel Aviv on the way out. Staying on the West bank was interesting. We crossed over from Jordan a week ago, over the Allenby Bridge and then to Jericho. We changed buses a couple of times and then got a minibus to Bethlehem. Interesting to drive through the arid Judean desert and then to see the Israeli settlements built on Palestinian soil.

We arrived in time for lunch and then had to stay indoors for the afternoon and the protest burst into life early afternoon. For about 4 hours the battle raged. Young men lit tyres alight on the streets and would run along the street and fire stones towards the wall and the Israeli soldiers. The soldiers would respond and fire salvos of flash bangs and tear gas and the crowds would run. Crazy, chaotic and a recipe for more death and trauma. We saw one young man carted off in an ambulance having been hit by something.

The next day we went out and explored Bethlehem checking out the Church where they say the stable was and Manger Square. I’m afraid we are pretty sceptical about the locations and even more so of the trivia and trash that surrounds it all. Just before lunch we met with a guy who runs the Shepherd’s Society, a group that deals with poverty amongst Palestinians.

Sunday we went into Jerusalem. We went to church in the old city and then had lunch overlooking the Temple Mount, The Mount of Olives and the Wailing Wall. We then visited the Wailing Wall and tried to get to the Temple Mount but it was closed. We wandered around and visited the tomb of David and the Upper Room and then headed home. Not sure about it all, I think the Wall was the most eye opening thing for me.

Monday we visited a couple of ministries for disabled folks. Both doing a great work with very needy people. Then Tuesday we headed up to the wall of the Israeli settlement which causes all the protest and met a woman whose house has been surrounded on 3 sides by the wall. There are now 2, 9 metre walls between her house and other family member’s houses. The houses are 30 metres apart but they have to go through a checkpoint and be harassed by 18 year old soldiers to visit their family, on their family land!

Later that day we headed over to Tel Aviv and stayed the night. Gordon and Barbara Stewart left us and flew back to New Zealand. Wednesday we flew to Istanbul and on to Samsun. Since last blog there has been a more travel, more people and more experiences to think through, process and develop. We’re pretty tired now. We only have another week until Helen leaves for New Zealand and I go on to India for 10 days.

Thanks for hanging in there with us. These short reviews don’t capture the smells, the friendship and great food that we experience with local people. It’s a joy to meet such warm hearted people.

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen.


Turkey - huge changes

2015-11-14 to 2015-11-24

Hey there, hope you’re doing OK? Time is flying and it’s only a week till I get home to NZ. But, since last time we’ve covered a few kms.

Since last blog we had 8 days in Turkey. First time there, interesting place. We were up on the Black Sea for the first 2 days. There used to be a strong Christian presence here until 100 years ago when the Turks chased the Armenians and other minority groups out of the country. Now, there is one church in the 60 cities along the Black Sea. Interesting to spend time with the pastor there. He is fearless. He has an armed guard most of the time to protect him, 7 years ago he was kidnapped and held to ransom!

Then it was to the city of Yalova, across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul. We spent 3 days there visiting a church that has 3 congregations: a Turkish group, an Iranian / Afghan group using the Farsi language and an Arabic group made up of refugees from Syria and Iraq! We heard some incredible stories. I’d love to tell them but it’s hard to choose which one. Suffice to day, these people have and are experiencing miracles every day. Sunday we spent the day with 3 leaders from Iran who lead the Iranian congregation. Amazing people and passionate about their people. The stories are true, literally thousands of people every week in Iran are becoming followers of Jesus.

Monday we visited a group of 100 Arabic speaking people at a Bible study camp. They are such a vibrant people. The leader we interviewed was a street fighter in Baghdad and Mosul, he’s now a coach for body building and kick boxing! One guy is a double Haji and was the treasurer of a huge mosque in Baghdad. He became so disillusioned with the corruption he left the country and became a Christ follower.

We heard stories of whole Kurdish families coming to faith. Of Yazidi people finding faith from poor Kurdish Christians. Their reason for faith is that these are the only people who cared for us. We heard of refugee camps where Christian doctors have been turned away because the communist gangs who control the camps are afraid that the whole camp might become Christians. They would prefer their people suffer and starve than have their corruption and futile beliefs exposed.

We then came back to Istanbul for a couple of nights and then did a day trip to Gallipoli. It was great to look around the area and find the grave of a great uncle who died there.  

Last Thursday we flew to Dubai and overnighted there. Helen then flew home to Auckland and I headed to Delhi. Helen is now hanging out with Jared and Ruth, Hugo and Joel who are in NZ for a few days.

I had 3 nights in Delhi and caught up with two of our partners, then Monday I flew to Kolkata and overnighted there with some local people and yesterday a caught the train west to the town of Jamtara, on the border with Jharkand, West Bengal and Bihar States. Pretty rural and dry but some interesting things going on.

More about this in a few days. I’m pretty weary with travel and planes and trains and taxis and different beds every night. But, we are learning a lot and meeting some great people.

By the way, Happy Christmas, a month to go! Holiday! Yea!

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen 

p.s. we didn't take a lot of photos as people are not free in this country and we have to careful of security. 


HOME again - phew

2015-11-25 to 2015-12-03

Hi there friends,

Last time I left you in Jharkand, India. I met some lovely people there. They are working with a large group of Santhal women, teaching and training. Here is a brief description of the Santhal: They are a tribe indigenous to Terai of Nepal and India, who live mainly in Nepal and the Indian States of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Assam. They are outside and below the caste system in India and because of that are regarded as scum. I’ve talked about Adavasi people before, similar people.

These young women are very vulnerable, their people are animists and the girls are married off at 12 – 14 years of age. I met one 15 year old with a baby. It’s a very sad system. Our friends there are training them to sew and make a living for themselves. I spoke to them and the Bible School boys 3 times for an hour while I was there and did a little visiting around the community.

I had a couple of 4 hour train trips while there. Really interesting to land in Kolkata’s Howrah railway station at 9:30 p.m. Thousands of people, it’s the craziest place. But I survived and the next morning flew to Siliguri. From there it was a 5 hour road trip to Chamurchi, on the Indo / Bhutan border. This is tea estate country with thousands of hectares of tea being grown. Much of it was planted 150 years ago when the British were the bosses around there.

Here there is a group of young people who are trying to help people the best they can. Some are from India and many are from Bhutan. The tea estates employ many people and pay very low wages. One of them closed down about 20 years ago amidst riots and deaths and has never reopened. This has left thousands of people out of work with few options. Often husbands leave families to find work and stay away for months, even years at a time and often start a new life and never come back. These people are dirt poor. It was amazing to visit their homes to encourage them, they are so generous in the midst of their poverty.

So, I spent 3 days up there and then on Tuesday last week started the journey home. First it was a 2 hour flight from Bagdogra to Delhi with a 5 hours wait. Then a 4 hour flight to Dubai with a 10 hour wait. Then 14 hours to Melbourne and a 2 hour wait and 3 hours to Auckland.

So travel for the year is over apart from the fact that we’re in Christchurch right now. The trip was amazing and we now have a lot to think about and process. New partnership opportunities have shown up in India, Lebanon, Turkey, D R Congo and Egypt. We’re planning to go revisit some of these places next year.

When Helen got back to NZ Jared and Ruth were here with Hugo and Joel. It was great for her to spend some time with them. Jared had gone by the time I arrived, but we managed to have a couple of days together with the boys. We’re in New Zealand till March at least and are hoping to have a bit of a rest over January. It’s only 16 days till Christmas. We’re having Sara and Karl and Coco here over the holidays, I’m sure it’s going to be fun. Thanks so much for your love and support over the last year, we’re so thankful and rely on you.

Merry Christmas.

Helen and Kevin  


Heading out again

2016-03-02 to 2016-03-03

Hi there friends,

It's March already so it's too late to say Happy New Year. It already seems quite old. However, best regards from Helen and I as we start into another year of travel. 

Towards the end of last year we decided with our Bright Hope World team that the amount of travel we were doing was not sustainable. We were well aware of that, so, this year the travel will be coming back from 25 weeks out of the country to around 15 weeks this year. So, there you go. Many of you have already said, "yea, heard that before!" But it's true. The team all know about it! It looks like Kevin will be doing 2, 3-4 week trips before September and then both of us will be away for about 8 weeks at the end of the year.

This note is to warn you about the first trip for the year, starting tomorrow.

Kevin leaves for 10 days in Pakistan, then a couple of days in Egypt and 6 days in Jordan. So, buckle up, we're off again! As usual we'll update the blog from time to time so you can follow along, pray and maintain contact.

We would value you prayer as this is a transition year in some ways. Cutting back on international travel means we'll be in New Zealand more and will be doing a bit of travelling internally. Hopefully that means we'll get the opportunity to catch up with some of you for a catch up.

Our team contunes to grow as well so we will be spending more time here and on the field with some of them. We love that part of our role. We have such an amazing group of people to work with. 

Lots of love

Helen and Kevin 


Lahore

2016-03-03 to 2016-03-07

OK, I’m Lahore after a pretty tiring journey. I booked this trip a while ago and about 10 days before leaving the Emirates people asked if I wanted to change my flight and instead of going through Melbourne, would I be interested to do the non stop flight, Auckland to Dubai. "Well, why not" I said, "save a few hours on the journey!" My goodness, almost 17 hours in the air….. it’s not a great idea, really, it's 'insane. You’d think by my age with all the experience of travel that it would be a breeze. But no, you sleep for 6 hours and you've still 11 to go!!

And when I got to Dubai at 6:00 a.m., with a 22 hour layover, the hotel had been cancelled because it had not been rebooked when I changed flights! So, it took another couple of hours on the ground after 17 in the air to before i'm wandering though Immigration and of course, my bag isn't on the carousel cause I took so long! By this time all the time you saved flying isn’t really saved at all.

So, after the 22 hours layover in a hotel I flew into Lahore, leaving Dubai at 4:00 a.m. And, 4 interntaional flights arrived at the same time. They only have about 10 in the whole day! Chaos. So funny. I was near the front of the plane so I got out pretty quickly and was only about 15th in the line for the immigration people. By the time I got to the booth an hour later, 26 people had pushed in front of me!!!! Only once did I show my annoyance, true, and only slightly, really! A near riot broke out in another queue over to the left.

There is a separate immigration booth in Lahore airport with the sign, for deportees from Saudi Arabia!!

I wasn’t that phased by the wait in the immigration queue cause I knew that I’d have to wait somewhere, immigration or baggage. Well, it took almost an hour for my bag to come through after almost an hour in the earlier queue. Anyway, my friends were there waiting. It’s always nice to see someone you know.

Since arriving here it’s been pretty full on. I got in on Saturday morning and we spent much of Saturday catching up on things since the last time I was here. February 2013 it was, Fraser and I shared a bed for a few days here then. I’ve tried to get here twice since then, but both times riots and bombs caused us to abort our plans mid trip.

Lovely to be staying with a family, it’s full of noise and fun and games. Saturday afternoon I visited a clothing factory we’re involved in. The impact is huge, training skilled workers, employing 40 poor people and paying them a good wage. The stories I heard of people with real dignity and hope makes me know it’s been a good investment. There are huge opportunities. It’s nice to find a social enterprise that is actually working at the social and business levels. It requires some tweaking and some more investment, but it’s a viable enterprise impacting large numbers of people. And, this is something really important we’ve learned, not dependent on export or Western customers to make it work.

Sunday I had to preach in church, about 90 people, mainly young in a room about 7 metres by 12 metres. I’ve worked out how to do it. No chairs, brilliant! Then after lunch I interviewed 17 young people who are part of a scholarship programme we support. Amazing what education does in conjunction with the Good News. Inspired and sad at the same time. We are helping 30, there are 200 on the list and hundreds who didn’t make the list. What about them?

Not sleeping very well, I think the 17 hours stuck in the plane is still affecting me. But it’s a quieter day today and I’m getting a lot of reports written. Not a bad thing really.

Tomorrow I’m off to a rural location so I thought I’d get this out before I’m out of touch for a few days. Next blog I’ll tell you about rural Pakistan. See you

Kevin 


rural Punjab

2016-03-08 to 2016-03-13

Rural Pakistan – after visiting the various projects around Lahore I caught a bus last Tuesday from Lahore to Faisalabad. The trip only took 2 ½ hours, great road and bus. Slept most of the way. Azam our partner from Islamabad was there to meet me and we drove out to the village, Ahahzada. It’s on the road between the cities of Gora and TobaTek Singh in the middle of Punjab. Beautiful area, fertile, green and productive. But a lot of poverty as well. We spent the next day and a half visiting women’s empowerment projects where women are taught to sew.

We met some wonderful people with lives of hardship it’s hard to imagine. It was great to be able to hear their stories and their hearts as they explained the difference a 9 month course and a sewing machine can make. And the food, my goodness, at one place the vegetable rice and chicken curry with raita was to die for. But how much time and energy it took…. I’ve learned to take nothing for granted when being blessed by the poor.

None of these people had met or talked to a white person so they were fascinated and most of the little kids cried!! As I walked around the village everyone who saw me wanted me to come in and have a cup of tea or Coke. They were very welcoming to the stranger! If only I could talk to them! Mind you, I don’t mind passing on the milk! Although, I’ve got used to sucking the skin off the top of the warm milk!

In one village of 10,000 people there are about 70 Christians and they don’t have it easy. Living as a minority has many complications and frustrations. It’s beautiful and hard, productive yet poor. On Thursday we drove from the village to Islamabad, much of the way in 4th gear until I did a little operation on the car! It took 6 hours so we made good time.

The last 3 days has been coping with constant rain and a bad stomach and in between both visiting various projects around Rawalpindi. A school that has grown to almost 150 students now, 2 sewing classes that have 15 women in each, talking to adults who have learned to read and encouraging our partners. What a privilege it is to do this, hear the cry of the poor and observe the transformation of lives and families.

I’ve thrown in a few more photos on this time for you to have a look at life here and in the village and some of the people I met.

Tomorrow morning early I head off to Cairo with a couple of flights. So thanks for following along. Helen is doing OK back home having spent the weekend celebrating her birthday with her 3 sisters and then driving down to Sara’s place to play with Coco.

Lots of love from a cool and very wet Islamabad.

Kevin  


Egypt and Jordan

2016-03-14 to 2016-03-18

It’s cool in the Middle East at this time of year, but a good time to visit before the summer kicks in. After leaving Islamabad and the heavy rains there I headed across too Cairo through Dubai and stayed for a night in a hotel close to the airport.

The next morning our friends Samy and Phoebe Masry picked me up and a whirlwind day ensued. I delivered funds to them as it’s difficult and expensive to send it and impossible for them to open a bank account. So, we headed for the mountain behind 15th May City to visit the people they work with. I spent most of my time there visiting widows they are helping. Let me insert here what I wrote in my diary about widows in this place:

“The distorted mind-sets of most people in this place is a constant source of frustration and Samy and Phoebe's greatest challenge. The plight of women in the community, especially widows, is very frustrating and hard to deal with. Knowing how to respond is a constant struggle and puzzle.

I visited a widow with Phoebe whom she had known for 10 years. While there she told me her name and Phoebe was shocked that she used her real name. It was the first time Phoebe had ever heard her use it. Women have no personal identity. They are called “Om” followed by the name of a child.

Their whole lives are lived with the identity of someone else. First they are known as the daughter of their father. Then the wife of their husband and then the mother of a child. Often wedding invitations will not even have the name of the bride on them.

This says a lot about the way this culture treats women, they are faceless creatures with no name whose only purpose is to serve the needs of men! Life is fiercely hard on them and infinitely more difficult if they become widows. The community does not accept or allow widows to remarry. No man would want another man’s children. So it’s very rare for this to happen. The reality is that if she did chose to remarry she would have to choose between her children or the man. Some do this and the kids are abandoned. So, how does she make ends meet? Often relatives of the deceased husband own the property so she may have find somewhere else to live. She’s often not educated or skilled so life becomes very desperate. There are few or no jobs she can get and if you don’t have a donkey or a cart or kids old enough to work it’s pretty difficult to do the rubbish work.”

This issue of mind-sets is the single biggest issue all our partners face. From my diary here is the story of a girl we are supporting, I can’t use her name, let’s call her Sara.

“Sara is a high performing 17 year old girl. She tops her class but suffers terrible opposition at home. Her parents accepted that she be given a scholarship but now want to get her off their hands and marry her and her 15 year old sister to their first cousins who live next door.

Two weeks ago she was involved in a medical camp in the village from a group of doctors and helpers. One of the helpers went to her father and said he wanted to marry her. First time they had met. So the father agreed sort of, but she refused and came to Samy who sorted it out. But the following day she visited her first cousins’ place. The mother, her aunt, slapped her around the face shouting at her why she is bringing shame on the family by not getting married or accepting these proposals.

Samy and Phoebe have to spend hours standing between her and her family and protecting her. She has a scholarship to stay at school, but it could all be undone at the whim of a mind-set that is constantly finding ways to destroy her dream.”

I was only there 2 nights and Wednesday flew to Amman in Jordan where I’ve now got a team of 3 people with me from the USA. Last night we met about 300 Iraqui refugee families and today we go visit a camp with about 100,000 Syrian refugees though we’re probably not going to be allowed in.

I was sad to miss Helen’s birthday last week but she had her 3 sisters to stay and, well, enough said. I’m sure I wasn’t even missed!!

Have a great weekend

From Jordan and Auckland,

Kevin and Helen


Refugees

2016-03-18 to 2016-03-23

It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to be trapped in a refugee camp. We stood on a hill overlooking the huge Zataari camp and wondered. 120,000 people crammed in and not allowed out. It’s pretty desperate I imagine. You’ve lost everything you ever owned and now you live, begging from the international community and at their mercy. Not allowed out, not allowed to work…..

And yet, they are not the only refugees. Our friends in Jordan are largely working with Iraqui Christian refugees who are allowed to roam free but who are just as much beggars. We met about 400 families in our time there, masses of desperately sad people, you can see it in their eyes.

I’m not sure I could listen to another heart rending story for a long time. However, it’s about them and if listening helps, then it’s the least I can do. And they say it does help. It helps to know that people from outside see them. That they are known and that someone is doing something. “We have nothing but God,” was a constant theme.

So I spent 5 days with our partners in Amman and 3 guys from the USA. We visited the refugee camp, well we almost did but local agencies are not allowed in. We visited 2 churches and the Iraqui refugee families they are working with; we heard many stories of loss and flight. We went to Um Qais on the border with Israel and Syria and looked out across the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee) and the Golan Heights into Lebanon. We met some great Christian Jordanian young people, we visited a Christian camp site that needs some work done. We visited a preschool and met a group of mothers on Mother’s Day. And we wandered around Amman. I even had enough time to do most of the reports and a lot of thinking about this part of the world and how we could be involved more effectively. We have great partners there.

Late Monday I went to the airport and flew to Dubai. I managed to get into business class for the flight to Auckland and, I slept for 10 of the 16 hours. What a bonus.

It’s Easter here in New Zealand this weekend, and in the land where Jesus was born and died there are still refugees, there are still masses of displaced people. Little has changed. Certainly the hearts of men and women are still set against the Prince of Peace and it seems we’ve learned nothing from history. Except, in the midst of it all, this little family, that young person, those Iraqui and that Syrian refugees find peace in knowing Jesus. And that’s the way it’s always been, all over the world right down through history, one life, one family, one community at a time.

Have a wonderful Easter

Helen and Kevin


Out and about in NZ

2016-04-01 to 2016-04-27

Hey friends

We’re on the road in New Zealand so I thought we’d drop you a note to let you know what we’re up to and to give you an insight into what we do when we’re not in other places. This year we’re cutting back on the international travel and because of that will be doing a little more wandering around New Zealand. When we tell people we’re cutting back the usual reaction is, “I’ve heard that before!” Well it’s true. This year we’ll be out of the country about 16 weeks, usually it’s around 25. So there, it’s official.

April has been a busy month. After Kevin got back from the last trip we’ve had to update our computers as they were getting past it. The first weekend we spoke about missions and Bright Hope World (BHW) at a church in Manurewa on the South side of Auckland, it was great to catch up with old friends there. 

We’ve had a number of skype calls with the team as we and they are preparing for trips to different parts of the world.  Then we were down to Christchurch where we had our Summit, an event we run every 2 years for the stakeholders in BHW. We explored “Sustainability” and had a lot of great conversations.

Then it was back home and the following weekend Kevin was the celebrant at a wedding of a young couple from our home church. It was a lovely day. Then, this last weekend we’ve been in Palmerston North for a family reunion for the extended Honore family. About 80 people came and we talked about our heritage and reminisced about 11 young men, our ancestors who went off to World War 1. It gave us an excuse to tell stories and meet a lot of our cousins. Kevin was pretty heavily involved in organising and delivering the weekend.

The highlight was to have Sara, Karl and Coco with us and then, on the Sunday morning to be surprised by Jared who flew in from Los Angeles. He was in New Zealand for business but came in a couple of days early and surprised us. Oh boy, it was a great surprise and so cool.

We left there on Monday and travelled to Paraparaumu and spent the evening with Matt and Judy O’Byrne. They are the BHW facilitators for Uganda and are leaving in about 6 weeks to go there. We chatted long into the night. Then next morning we met with Phil Rhodes, he is new to the team and will soon be going off to Uganda and Tanzania with John Vlaming to do Foundations for Farming training. Then we caught up with Graham and Sue Taylor, friends we’ve known for years. They have just finished working in Cambodia for 10 years and are shifting to Kolkata, India. We go through there a bit so look forward to catching up with them some time later this year.

Yesterday we got to Wellington and spent last night with James and Nicky Rees Thomas, BHW facilitators for India and Nepal. James is heading off there in July so we talked that through and completely changed his itinerary!! We also talked through our partnerships there, they are such great people.

Today we’re off to visit a group who has partnerships in the great lakes area of Africa and then it’s to friends and supporters for dinner. Tomorrow we head to Levin, where we are originally from. We’ll be catching up with friends and our church family there for the weekend.

Anyway, we’re doing OK and love meeting our NZ friends. It’s been great to have a bit of family time between trips, it’s more possible with less time out of the country and we’re pretty happy about it.

Let’s stay in touch,

Kevin and Helen


home again

2016-04-28 to 2016-05-04

Hi there

Well, we’ve come to the end of our road trip around the North Island. Since last time we wrote, we met our friend Ken Rout who is involved with partners in the Great Lakes area of Africa. We talked about the great people we know there, how they are doing and what they’re thinking about for the future. It’s an amazing area of the world, full of strife and poverty but the church is growing like crazy. That generates many issues for them all. But we came away with some possible new opportunities.

In the evening we had dinner with friends we’ve known for many years. They are young people and are very generous and supportive of BHW. It was great to have blue cod they had caught for dinner and play with light sabres and meccano, thanks Dominique!

Thursday it was north from Wellington to Levin. The weather has been fantastic, clear blue skies and warm days. We got to Debbie and John’s place, good friends from a previous life in Levin. We stayed with them for 2 nights and while there visited a number of friends. Levin is the town we lived in till 8 years ago. Helen visited 2 of her sisters with one of their daughters, we had Indian food with Russell and Rose, Russell is the closest thing Kevin has for a brother, we visited the Smiths, old friends of the family and hung out with John and Debbie. It was great to be on our old home patch.

Saturday night we stayed with Jennie and Ron, Helen’s eldest sister. Great to catch up and watch some rugby. Then it was Queen St Chapel, the church that has supported us in missions since 1981! Can you believe it. Amazing faithfulness. We spoke twice updating them about what we’ve been up to the last year. It’s kind of like an annual event about this time of the year.

Then Sunday afternoon it was 2 hours over to Waipukurau and our friends Kevin and Linda Davidson. We had a meeting there with about 35 people from the church they worship with. This church has been with us a number of times to Thailand and are strong partners, we love coming here. By 10:00 pm we were pretty beat.

Monday morning we left about 8:30 am and drove through the back blocks of Hawkes Bay, in autumn, beautiful. We arrived in Tauranga to play with Coco for a few hours. 2 ½ is such a cool age. It’s great to catch up with family when you can. We had Tuesday there as well, Kevin was preparing to speak on Wednesday. Coco kept us pretty amused most of the time.

Wednesday we left around 9:30 am and drove to Cambridge. Kevin did a session with 40  students at Capenwray about Bright Hope World, to expose them to missions and how we do it. Then after lunch it was a meeting with someone to see if there is any potential for partnership in Africa and then to Hamilton to visit a couple who are travelling with us in India later in the year and who are becoming involved in our team.

Home around 8:00 pm, not much left in the tank by then, both the petrol tank in the car and the energy tanks in our bodies.

It’s been great to meet so many people. People positive about supporting BHW, positive about their personal faith walk, positive and what God is doing in the world. We had many conversations, meals and coffee, spoke a few times and met a lot of our extended family. It’s been great.

Now it’s back to reports and preparing for 2 more trips. The next one is in July, Kevin goes up to Indonesia, Malaysia and North India. And the later in the year we both head of for about 9 weeks to Africa, the Middle East and India again. We’ll have a lot of people with us on the last trip so there is a lot to preparation required.

Hope you’re doing OK where you are?

Warm regards

Helen and Kevin

 


Almost ready to go

2016-07-09 to 2016-07-14

It’s been a little while since you heard from us. It’s not like life stopped or anything. It’s been time for some catch up and preparation for the 2 trips coming up. With only 6 weeks between them, we need to have the second one pretty much sorted before Kevin heads of for 4 weeks on Tuesday.

We had 10 days in and around Brisbane. The main purpose was to attend a celebration of Kevin’s uncle and aunt who celebrated 70 years of marriage. Ainsworth is 91 and Lorna is 90. If you read this blog from time to time you will have seen comments from them, US2inOZ is their tag. We also had a break from emails, sort of and caught up with family there.

This note is to let you know we’re about to head out again, well at least Kevin is. He’s off to Kuching in Malaysia to visit partners there. Then to Indonesia to check out some new opportunities and to attend a conference. Then on to India to visit new partners. Four weeks and 20 stops.

Helen will have her hands full. A week after Kevin leaves, Jared and Ruth and Hugo and Joel arrive from living in the US for almost 2 years. They are coming back to live in Auckland and will be staying with us for the first few weeks until they sort out their permanent situation. So, it’s going to be lots of nanny time!! It all happened quite quickly so Kevin wasn’t able to change the dates of his trip. He’s a sad boy!!!

Over the last few days we’ve been working on an annual report of the work with Bright Hope World. I cannot get over how much impact is being made by our partners in some of the most difficult parts of the world. It’s a great privilege to work alongside them. More than 30,000 people are directly or indirectly influenced, it’s staggering. Many of our team members are out of NZ at present, mainly in Africa. It’s a busy time of year and keeping up with them is pretty difficult.

So, the blog posts will fire up again in a few more days. Check out the map as well and the photos as we trundle along and bring you more stories of life change.

Warm regards

Kevin and Helen. 


Longhouses

2016-07-12 to 2016-07-16

I’m not quite sure where to begin. The last few days have flown by and I’m not sure I can remember it all. I had a good flight to Singapore, I slept most of the way. Then a 4 hour wait and on to Kuching in East Malaysia. No hassles at immigration and out I went, it took all of 10 minutes. My contact, Tram was there to meet me and I settled into the hotel. The other guy I am travelling with. Chin Aik arrived a few hours later and we went out to dinner.

Since then it’s been two days in the rural highlands of Sarawak. When I was a kid I collected stamps from Sarawak, but now it’s part of Malaysia, in an uncomfortable sort of way. So Thursday and Friday I was visiting Dyak longhouses. Check them out on the internet. Dyak is a general term to describe a group of tribal people who live in Borneo, both sides of the border. I was visiting Iban people, the largest of the Dyak tribes.

Amazing houses they live in. They are family villages all under one roof. Some are huge, over 100 metres long. They all have a long, enclosed veranda that runs the length of the building. Opening off the veranda are “doors” and up to 3 families might live inside one door, like an apartment. One of the houses we visited had 39 doors, over 100 people!

In the first longhouse we visited up behind Betong there were tourists staying. A French family was there for weeks. It’s become quite touristy thing to do. There was also a young girl from England who had been there for just a day. It’s a way for the local people to earn some income. They are poor, but not dirt poor like many people we work with. They grow rice and pepper. We walked into on door and there were about 10 sacks of pepper in there. You could almost get high on it, beautiful.

Thursday we drove 5 hours to the town of Betong, north from Kuching. Then we drove right up into the hills to visit 2 longhouses. We found people waiting who wanted to become Jesus followers and leave the fear and superstition. Pretty cool really. Many in these areas are sick of the fear and are changing allegiance. We got back long after dark.

The next day we visited 6 more longhouses and drove back to Kuching, a 15 hour day, about 10 cups of tea and biscuits and numerous other delicacies were forced upon us. I’ll put up a bunch of photos so you can check out some of the people, places and modes of transport.

And the food, my goodness, I could live in this place. Each morning we go to an open restaurant and for $1.50 get the most beautiful meals. We visited the Indonesian border today and another village of a different tribe. Huge transformation going on in the villages as they leave fear and superstition behind. These people are so full of life, they are so generous and hospitable.

Anyway, I’ll leave you to look at the pix.

Meanwhile, Helen is off with some friends for the weekend and Jared and Ruth with Hugo and Joel arrive on Tuesday. We’re all very excited about that.

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen


conferencing

2016-07-17 to 2016-07-20

Last Sunday I went out for my last Malaysian meal, noodles for breakfast. Not quite up to the earlier standard but pretty good. I’m gonna miss the Malaysian food that’s for sure. The plane out of Kuching to Kuala Lumpur was delayed by 30 minutes and then the weather slowed us down so there was only a short time between flights. I only just make the plane to Jakarta and knew my bag was on trouble. I’m sick of being right!!! No bag on arrival but it was coming on the later plane and they promised to deliver it later that night.

They didn’t. I overnighted in a budget hotel by the airport and got my bag in the morning and headed to Yogyakarta. No worries getting there and to the hotel at which I would spend 3 nights and days at a conference. People here from around Asia, I’ve met some great people and heard some wonderful stories. Let me highlight a few:

And did I say the food was great too! Our kids have arrived home from the USA and are trying catch up on sleep and all the people who want to see them. Missing them a lot and would love to be there. I’m waiting for a skype call from Helen in a few minutes.

Well, I’m off into the centre of Java tomorrow. Maybe I’ll find some good coffee there! I've put up a couple of pix from the Malaysia that one of the guys sent to me. So here are some pix with me in them!

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen


Indonesia to India

2016-07-21 to 2016-07-27

A week has gone by already, and what a week it’s been. Last Thursday I headed north from Jogjakarta to the city of Salatiga, just over two hours. It pretty much sheeted with rain the whole trip. And the road became the river!!! But got there OK. Salatiga is about the actual centre of Java, the most densely populated island in the world.

I stayed for 2 nights with a team from the USA, they welcomed me with open arms and shared their time very generously. Totally impressed by the calibre of these people, choosing to live in a foreign place, learn the language and love people cross culturally. The local people I met were inspiring too. I cannot tell much about them as their lives are in jeopardy and they try to keep their heads down. But I heard stories of life change, persecution, and triumph in the face of adversity. I’m hoping something will grow here for us. I think it will.

Then overnight in Yogyakarta and Sunday was travel, 3 flights. First a 1 hour from Jogja to Jakarta. 3 hours wait and almost 2 hours to Singapore. 4+ hours on the ground and then 4 hours to Kolkata. I was given the 3rd degree on arrival about why I travel to Pakistan? Why do I come to India so often? Then why am I staying with local people and not a hotel? And then what do my friends doave 2 passports? 3 different guys were on my case. I guess you can understand it. The amount of travel we do does make us look a bit like couriers / mules or something even more sinister, if that’s possible. I’m going to try and get a 5 year multiple entry again. Saves so much hassle.

Got out just before midnight, it had been a long day. My friend Molay Kanti Das was there to take me to his place. It was lovely to hang out with them for a couple of nights. Such genuine, lovely, people. We spent Monday talking about the children’s work they are doing. 45 children come for 2 hours every day for tutoring. He has hired 2 teachers to help. Then on Sunday about 85 come for Bible lessons and in vacation time about 180 kids come for a week of games and stories.

Loved my time there and will be spending another night there on Thursday. I’m thinking we might be able to help with those little kids. They are very poor, their fathers do daily work so don’t have work every day. They leave home early morning and don’t come back all day scrounging for a dollar. The mothers will often have cleaning work and they leave around 9:00 leaving the kids to get ready for school at 11:00. More often than not the kids don’t get there. The parents don’t understand the value of education and here and now, in the 21st Century, hundreds of thousands of kids could go to school but their parents don’t think it necessary.

Since starting this work the discipline of the kids has improved. They now go to school much more regularly. They pass their exams. As well, the girls are not being married off at 11 or 12 nor are the young boys being forced to work for 70 cents a day in garment or bag making factories. Change is starting in this desperate place.

On the way home from spending some time with the kids we walked through the local hospital. My goodness, I’ll never complain about our health system ever again. It was pouring with rain and the queue in the rain was over 100 metres long. If you weren’t sick when you lined up, you sure as heck were by the time you got to the front of the line. We’re only 50 kms from Bangladesh and the poverty is prevailing, confronting and desperately obvious.

More later,

Stay in touch

Kevin and Helen. 


lovely people

2016-07-26 to 2016-07-30

I’m starting to think of home again, 8 more sleeps. I don’t allow myself the luxury of a countdown until there are less than 10 sleeps to go. Our son Jared and Ruthie with Hugo and Joel are staying at our place and I’m really missing the time with them. Helen is having a great time catching up on almost 2 years of not having them close.

Meanwhile, I India there has been a bit happening. Last Tuesday I caught the train from Howrah station in Kolkata to Chittaranjan, about 3 and a bit hours down the track, inland from Kolkata. I then spent the next couple of days hanging out with friends. While there I talked to the 20 students for about 3 hours and then spoke at a baby dedication in a village and shard in a community meal. Lots of fun. We’re looking at a partnership here where our friends have about 35 women students who come to learn Bible and many other things, sewing, knitting, cottage industry, soap making, candle making, a whole range of things.

Many girls here are traded out of their families at a young age as they are a financial burden. So at12 or 13 they are married off. But if they can earn something it all changes. I have been shocked at many stories like this. Even girls with learning and development issues are married. Many people ask me why the Christian stuff, why is that part of your emphasis. It’s very obvious in cultures like this that girls in particular in the Christian families are treated so much better. It’s not the West, but there is genuine love and protection for Christian girls compared to other families. It’s lovely to see.

Thursday I caught a bus back to Kolkata, good ride but much slower than the train. Then we had to catch a taxi…. I learned a few things. Just because it says “no refusal” on the door does not mean they can’t refuse you. They shout and yell at you as well!!! So you get your monies worth.

Back to Molay and Anita’s place. What lovely people and the food. My goodness. It’s just magnificent. If only the Indian food in NZ restaurants was as good. Overnighted there and then Friday morning got a taxi to the airport and onto a plane to Siliguri. My friend Santosh was there and we first visited a partner in SIliguri for an hour (I’m coming back here in November) and did some business in Silguri then drove to the border of Bhutan. We fought our way through torrential rain, not pleasant on these roads at dusk!

I had to visit the border control people and register that I was in the area and then to Santosh and Sirisha’s place. I was welcomed by the 15 hostel kids and they remembered me from the previous time I was here last November. Lovely little guys. Late meal, welcome bed.

Saturday about 30 local leaders came and I spoke to them for about 3 hours. Good people from both sides of the border. Some had travelled 4 hours by motorbike from the interior of Bhutan. After a rest I spoke to the hostel kids, told a few stories and we had a lot of fun. Then dinner and a lovely chat with Santosh and Sirisha. What lovely hearts they have. Their place is like a railway station! Sirisha seems to spend most of the day in the kitchen serving people. I think there is a future for us here…

Catch you later

Kevin and Helen.


trains and planes

2016-07-31 to 2016-08-04

Frankly, I just don’t know where to start this time. It’s been such a full on week it’s shot past in a blur. It’s been full of meeting new people and being in new places.

Last Sunday I spent the day in little churches on the Bhutan border, on the India side. It’s tea garden country, but beneath the beauty of the manicured tea gardens lurks many serious issues. Broken families because of low, low wages, men having to go somewhere else in India to find work and never coming back, terrible drug and alcohol addictions, abused and abandoned children, girls married off as young as 11. But hope as well and the lives of many families are transformed.

It was so hot Sunday afternoon some of the boys from the hostel and I crossed the border into Bhutan and had a swim in the river. It was such fun. We built a dam and in we jumped. I’m pretty sure they were shocked at the huge white rhino in the pool.

Monday was train day. I got up early ready to hit the road at 5:15 to catch the train. We checked on the internet and found it was 3 hours late. So, I lay down for an hour, got back up and found it was now 4 hours late. Finally we drove from Chamurchi to Dhupguri and caught the train about 10:45 to Guwahati. 9 hours later we pulled into the station to be met by new friends, Timothy and Krau. The trip itself was pretty funny, 3 beds high, both sides of a kind of cabin. 6 of us. The other 5 were all dead pan, no expression so I tried to lighten it up a little with only moderate success. 

I then spent 3 days with a team of local people trying to make a difference in Guwahati. They are from all over north-east India and Myanmar. Multi-tribal which is a bit of a breakthrough as many of the churches there are very tribal. We talked a lot about helping them to become self sustaining, in fact talked so much I can hardly think right now. And hot, I cannot remember ever feeling so hot and sweating so much. But I came away with some lovely new friends and a lot of thinking to do about the future in that place.

Yesterday I caught a flight from Guwahati to Imphal, Manipur. But, more about that later. Only 2 sleeps till I start heading home.

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen

p.s. Thinking of our dear friend John Knowles today and his life partner Leslie has entered heaven. 


Home time

2016-08-05 to 2016-08-09

Hardly a day on this trip has gone by without meeting some amazing people. The last 3 days have been no exception. I arrived in Imphal, Manipur, with no hassles and was met by Zeeneta and Mosa. They are local Manipuri people, brought up in this community. We quickly left the airport and headed to the place where they have just established a training base. Here there were 20 local people who live in Muslim communities and represent Jesus. And you think you’ve got a tough life!! Some of the stories are right out of the 15th century in terms of the attitudes they face. And they do it with such determination and tenacity. No complaints, just grace and perseverance.

I heard Zeeneta’s story and then Mosa’s and then Zeeneta’s parents. My goodness, they are only alive by the grace of God. Attacked with axes, poisoned and still suffering from this some years later and a public call to all Moslems to kill them published in the newspaper. And still they survive and flourish. I don’t mean like is easy for them, not at all. But to hear them tell the story and then in tears explain how much they love these people and just want the best for them is heart-warming and poignant.

After 3 days of that it was time to move on. We ate, drank laughed and chatted the 3 days away, it went in a flash. And I came away with great respect for these people who have chosen the hard way, to intentionally love among people who hate and despise them. For the sake of those people.

Last Sunday, a week ago I left Imphal and spent the next few hours travelling. First a 40 minute flight from Imphal to Argatala – I slept most of it. Then another 40 minute nap across Bangladesh and Kolkata. Then a 4 hour wait until the check in opened and then another 2 ½ hour wait until the plane for Singapore left. Midnight as we were on our way arriving in Singapore about 6:30 a.m. local time.  Fortunately  I was able to go to the lounge in Singapore, just for an hour. Then back to the gate and we boarded. Ready to go on time. Pushed out from the gate and after 20 minutes on the tarmac we were told there was a technical problem and then all the lights went out. Another 20 minutes and we were moving again, back to the gate. We sat another 30 minutes and then off we got again, into the gate area. As I had a gold card I left and hung out in the lounge for another 4 hours until we were ready to go again. We left 6 hours late, I popped a pill and woke up with an hour to go. We got into Auckland at 3:30 a.m. not too bad for me, that was only 9:00 p.m. on my body clock but pretty rough on Helen who got there at 4:00 a.m. to pick me up!

Since then it’s been getting back into the swing of things back here, catching up with Jared, Ruth and the boys who are living with us, writing reports and making last minute adjustments to the next trip which takes off in 6 weeks from today.

Thanks for flying along with me. Helen and I appreciate your love and involvement.

Signing off with lots of love, until next trip,

Kevin and Helen. 


It's time to leave, again.

2016-09-28

Sadly, the day has come for Kevin to head off again. Where did the last 7 weeks go? It’s an 8 week trip, we plan to get back to NZ on the 24th November. We’ll do it in 3 legs, leg 1 is Kevin in Africa, leg 2 Helen flies in for the Middle East and then leg 3 back to India with another couple from New Zealand.

Leg 1 starts tonight with Kevin flying to Dubai and then Addis Ababa. Then he flies to Gonder on Friday. The school is supposed to open today. There is internal trouble and rioting in Ethiopia and Worku is a bit worried that the opening of the school is going to be disrupted. While there he’ll visit the Senior care programmes as well.

On the 4th September Kevin flies to Nairobi through Addis Ababa and arrives late in the day. After getting bags, money and a sim card it’s off across town to the hotel. The next day will be spent interviewing students in the sponsorship programme, people involved in the discipleship course and discuss our future funding for the work in the Mathare Valley.

On the 6th it’s out to Nguluni and meet the school board, then have a meeting with Robert Gitau. That night I go back to Omondis and stay with them. We’ll be discussing the development of partnerships, there are some exciting new opportunities emerging.

On the 7th he flies to Mombassa and then to Mariakani, an hour inland. There he’ll spend 2 days looking at a potential new partnership with street kids and football.

Sunday the 9th he flies to Kisumu and the out to a village 2½ hours into the bush towards the Tanzania border. There he’s checking out a couple potential new partnerships and another one on the 10th.

After that it’s on to Uganda. Gordon Stewart meets him at the airport and they stay in Kampala. While in Uganda it’s checking on a couple of new partnership opportunities. One is about 4 hours on the bus to Fort Portal, West near the DRC border, near Lake Albert. They’ll be there for 3 nights visiting 2 guys who have some projects under way. They have been trained in Foundations for Farming and work with DRC refugees, they are refugees themselves.

On the 18th they pick up with Ephraim and Jova, people we’ve met a number of times know but don’t yet partner with. It’s an 8 hour drive north to Arua, near to the DRC and South Sudan. It’s 4 days with them seeing what they are doing in the refugee camps along the borders and deciding if there are ways to partner with them.

Hopefully we get back to Kampala on the 22nd October in time to catch a 4:15 a.m. flight to Cairo where we meet our wives! Helen and Barbara are travelling together, leaving NZ on the 22nd October.

So, there is plenty to do, plenty to see and process and much to write about. Welcome to the next part of the journey with bigkevandnell.

We love you and so appreciate you coming with us.

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen. 


trouble in Gondar

2016-09-29 to 2016-10-02

Hey from Gondar in the north of Ethiopia. Since leaving on Wednesday I’ve had my first decent sleep apart from the 9 hours of drug induced knockout on the 17 flight from Auckland to Dubai! The flights went well, no real hassles apart from having to wait for more than an hour for my bag in Addis. At least it came and I met some interesting guys in the process. Then it was overnight in Addis Ababa and an early morning flight to Gondar.

For the last 2 days I’ve been hanging with Worku, our partner here. My goodness, what an impressive school he’s building. It gets underway tomorrow after many years of battling so many issues. Two words spring to mind when I think of Worku, resilience and tenacity.

Yesterday I got to spend about an hour with a group of elderly people. I interviewed a couple in a little more depth and after asking, they agreed to a photo. Once they saw themselves, some for the first time in years, everyone wanted a photo! It was funny watching them laugh an giggle. Some did not recognise themselves at first.

A main reason for writing is to stay in touch as Gondar is pretty much cut off from the world at the moment. I can’t send emails easily and most of the social media apps have been disabled. In fact, at times cell phone coverage has been interrupted. There is a great deal of fear on the streets, people get visited at night and disappear. There are few people on the streets and everyone speaks quietly and furtively. There are burned out buildings and a very different atmosphere from previous visits.

In general the situation is not great and it’s not good for the school either. Worku was planning for 500 - 600 students to start 2 weeks ago but now it will be less than half that. There are clouds of uncertainty looming over northern Ethiopia and this makes people unwillingly to send their children out of the home. It could become all-out civil unrest as the local people resist government plans to confiscate land to be rented to foreigners. Last week there was a 7 day strike and no one was allowed to work, travel or trade. This is organised by the local people in protest. It’s an uprising by local people totally disenchanted by their plight.

The Western powers have been using Ethiopia as model of development over the last few years and there is a lot of development going on. But, at the local level the corruption and injustice is appalling. And, this is a country with a population of 100 million people. The tribal group around Gondar is around 30 million people so it’s not just a minor issue.

So, again I ask, please pray for this place and the people caught up in it. Especially pray for Worku as he tries to navigate difficult times and generate resources to help people.

Also, I won’t have internet contact easily until I get to Nairobi late on Tuesday. Hope you enjoy the photos of some of my friends from yesterday.

Kevin (Ethiopia) and Helen (New Zealand)

p.s. I managed to chat to Helen on skype a few minutes ago. Yay. 


Empowering women and girls

2016-09-30 to 2016-10-10

Ooops, I’ve dropped the ball on this trip writing the blog. As I start writing this I’m way down the south of Kenya in a little village not far from the border with Tanzania. It’s pretty remote with no power or internet coverage.  A huge thunderstorm has just finished; I love those violent events. Thunder, lightning and huge torrents of rain bucketing out of the sky. Amazing. About 15 minutes later, in the darkness I was out in the back yard having a bath, on the back lawn! Nice.

A lot has transpired since the last edition. Let me quickly tell you the highlights.

I left Ethiopia last Tuesday. The start to the school year has been disrupted by the internal political unrest in Ethiopia. It’s not a happy place. He was hoping for at least 400 students, but he started with just over 100 on the 1st day and almost 200 on the 2nd day. But there continue to be new kids turning up to register and start. Hopefully he’ll get near to the 400.

While in Gondar I had little contact with the world as many social media sites are blocked and I couldn’t even send or receive emails. The locals are very frustrated.

Then Tuesday I flew to Nairobi. I then spent a day with friends in Mathare Valley, you’ve heard me talk of that place in the past. It’s still a terrible place but some beautiful children are coming out of there. It’s very inspiring. I interviewed 7 of them and worked with the team on plans for the future.

The following day it was out to Tala, 2 hours out of Nairobi to spend the day with the leaders of a school there. It’s been I real trouble since our partner Rose Gitau died. But now it is flourishing again. So cool to see. We also spent some time with Robert and a couple of guys who had travelled to talk to us. More decisions to make about new opportunities.

That same day I came back into Nairobi and stayed with other partners, Ibrahim and Diane Omondi. It was great to spend the evening with them and talk through the start of a new partnership out in West Kenya. Actually, not too far from where I’m sleeping tonight.

The following day, Friday I was off to Mombassa on the coast and 45 minutes inland to the town of Mariakani. There I had 2 days looking at more new partnership opportunities. I spent quite a lot of the time assessing the cost of completing a building for one of our partners. We measured and counted and went to the hardware shop to get prices. I also hung out with Shaban who leads a ministry to street kids, there are hundreds of them roaming the streets getting onto trouble. They have a soccer team and various other programmes for the kids. I went out into the bush to visit a village, there were 100s of kids around. The girls playing soccer, the boys too cool to do that! Little guys playing silly games…. It was a lovely afternoon and I spoke to about 80 of them for a few minutes.

Then Sunday I flew out to Kisumu from Mombassa. 2 short flights and was met by Robert Omundi, potentially a new partner. I’m staying with him in his village near Rongo, 3 ½ hours south of Kisumu towards the Tanzania border. Spent the afternoon with him and saw what he is doing with street kids and vulnerable women. A little school, a women’s soccer team, Moringa tree planting and soap making to help with a small income for the women. The only problem was all the rats running around in the night. I was worried about mozzies here, but I think the rats are worse. What a noise they made all night. A couple ran up my mozzie net so the nets are keeping out larger that intended pests.

Today we drove to another remote village near to Lake Victoria to visit a partnership with another potential partner. Jacklyn is a lovey woman with a great group of people helping her. We delivered sanitary pads to girls in two schools, spoke to 300 young people, and met with 35 members of the community who want to stop the shocking abuse of women, starting with girl child education. It’s an area where there is a lot of gold mining so the kids are dragged off to work. Rough men come into the community and rape and steal girls. It’s a pretty bad situation, but the community has got together with Jacklyn’s help and I was impressed with their achievements up till now.

Anyway, that’s enough from me. Hopefully you won’t have to wait so long for the next edition.

Loads of love

Kevin and Helen.


Way out West in Uganda

2016-10-11 to 2016-10-15

Last blog I was in Kisumu and had another day before heading over to Uganda. On that day I went with good friends from years ago to visit their village. We met Gabriel and Grace back in 2001 and have run into them from time to time. I was very surprised and encouraged by the things I saw there perched on the edge of Lake Victoria and very hot. I came back sunburned and very hot. The cold shower that night was long and delicious. I met some very poor men and women who are making some huge life changes. Many were fishermen but Lake Victoria is clogging up with Lake Hyacinth and they cannot go fishing anymore. Grace is organising them to grow vegetables and sell them, actually grow. But they are not selling very well. So, we started talking about how we could help and I think something is coming together. It’s the old story of being able to produce but with no ability to distribute and sell. A lot of the beautiful product is wasted.

The next day, Thursday was travel day. Early to Kisumu airport and a flight to Nairobi. A 4 hour wait and then a flight to Entebbe. No hassles with entry and met Gordon Stewart who had arrived the day before. We’ll be travel buddies until the 23rd when our wives arrive in Cairo to meet us. We got to the hotel and then down to Garden City to change money and get sorted with phone and internet.

The last two days seem to have just disappeared. Most of it has been sitting in various modes of transport. First and large bus the Fort Portal in the West of Uganda, 4 hours. then to a hotel on motorbikes. Then a car for 1¾ hours to the border with D.R.Congo, just across the Similiki River. People have been living there for many years who escaped Congolese tribal warfare in 2003. Uganda gave them land in a Game Park, but it floods regularly and they lose their houses and crops. What to do? Can we help these people who are still traumatised by the loss of family, land and dignity They’re stuck, not easy to stay, impossible to leave.

Then back into the car to the hotel around 7:00 p.m. just on dark. It made for a long day and again the cool shower was a blessing.

Today, more of the same. We hit the road around 8:00 in a minibus for an hour on good roads. Then into another minibus on not such good roads. Because I’m big I get the privilege of sitting in the front seat!! At least there were seat belts. At one stage the driver had someone sitting on the driver’s set with him!! It’s just crazy. In terms of everything we do, driving here is far and away the most dangerous part of the deal. So we really do value your prayers.

We found a place to stay in Kagadi for $10 a night and off we went to another village of Congolese refugees. We spent a couple of hours listening to their stories of trauma and loss. Now they are not able to make a living in Uganda and feel disappointed because they think the land cannot support them. We discovered that if they start applying Foundations for Farming, the person they leased the land from takes the land back because of the good harvest. They cannot get long term leases, they cannot get large enough portions and are disappointed. We had a lovely time with them, praying, singing, telling stories and making plans. Mmmm, lots to think about and process.  

We learned that there are thousands of Congolese living in 2 refugee camps in Uganda and they are basically not allowed out. The only option is for them to go back to the DRC. We’re making plans to get there sometime soon.

We got back from the village and within 10 minutes there was a huge downpour, thunder, lightning and hail. I love African thunder storms. It’s a blessing they all say, the rain. I just trust our visits were a blessing to them as well.

Much love

Kevin


Refugees

2016-10-16 to 2016-10-21

Hi there, my goodness the week has flown by. It feels like most of it was spent sitting in vehicles driving for hours. it goes something like this.

Sunday the 16th, Gordon and I caught a minibus from Kagadi to Kampala, 6 hours, 4 of them on rough roads. We got back a day earlier than planned but it worked out well, we had a catch up day in Kampala.

Monday we laxed out a bit, caught up on writing, washed some clothes, reports and emails. We travelled across the city to stay near to our friends as we were leaving early the next morning.

Tuesday we left Kampala around 8:00 and headed north to Arua. 8 hours later in the back seat and leg cramps we got there. No real dramas, but Toyota Surfs are not the most comfortable of vehicles. We met some of the team that work in the refugee camps in the north.

Wednesday we visited Rhino camp for refugees, about 2 hours each way. There are about 60,000 people in the camp. It’s not a camp in the real sense of the word. The people are brought into the reception area in buses from the border. There they are interviewed, forms filled out, put into groups of the same ethnicity and then given a small amount of beans and maize with 5 poles. They are then taken out onto the bush and given a designated piece of land / bush. They then have to make it work, build a house and deal with whatever. It’s pretty shocking really. We visited one settlement where thousands had no water delivery for more than 24 hours, it was nearly 30 degrees, some people were arriving and being given food and the ones already there had not eaten for days…. It was terrible.

They complained that there was no light at night and there were scorpions, snakes and pythons in the bush and I could quite believe it.

We visited the processing centre and met the UNHCR person in charge, from Afghanistan. She seemed lovely but had an impossible job. More than 500 people were arriving every day. They have to organise food, safety, shelter, sanitation, transport…. It just goes on and on. And they have nowhere near enough resources.

The people we are with, Ephraim and the team up there run 3 early childhood schools in the camps. They have almost 500 kids and it’s pretty bad. They have a few tents but really are far below minimum standards. They realise they are small and can’t do everything, in fact, they are struggling to do much at all as they are severely under resourced. Can we do something to help? Would love to. They are the only local NGO in the camp and the only Christian group.

Thursday we travelled 2½ hours north, almost to the border and here there are 150,000 people. By November they expect more than 200,000 will have arrived since August. More of the same, 2,000 people per day, processed and taken out into the bush to cope with a new life. Few men, they have stayed back to fight and protect what’s left of their lives there. The UN guy in charge thought that a few would go back, but most would stay.

I hadn’t realised the size of the problem in South Sudan. It’ dwarfed in the media by the Syria situation, refugees arriving in Europe and the buffoons in the US election. But here there are tens of thousands of displaced people, mainly women and children and there is little being said or done. 

Friday we drove back to Kampala, 8 more hours and another school. And now it’s Saturday. We’ve got 3 meetings today and then at 4:15 tomorrow we head off to Cairo and Helen and Barbara fly in about 90 minutes after us.

catch you later.

Kevin and Helen


Egypt

2016-10-22 to 2016-10-29

It's Monday here, last night we flew from Cairo to Amman. The internet has not been great so this is a little late and is a summary of last week up till Saturday.

We’ve been together for a week in Egypt and have covered some ground. It was lovely to meet again after almost a month apart, Helen burst out of the doors of the terminal like a crazy woman….. the only one who did it that way in the 2 hours we say waiting. Probably, the only one this century actually.

Anyway, we got pretty much straight into action. We rested up a bit last Sunday and then Monday it was all on. We travelled to 15th May City to visit our friends Samy and Phoebe who work with people scraping together a living from sorting the garbage from 2 nearby cities. It’s a filthy place but they chose to go there to serve the people.

Then it was a quick dash back into Cairo to visit the Bible Society and see what they are doing, very inspiring and huge.  Over 200 employees and hundreds of volunteers. After that we visited another partner, Nathan and Sawsan and the vocational training programme they run. About 250 people trained this last year and about 40% of them now have jobs.

Tuesday we headed south to Upper Egypt. It was a long day leaving at 7:30 and getting back almost midnight. We saw poverty in it’s rawest forms. 22 people in one crumbling house, 3 men earning about $6 a day when they get work. How do they live. To be frank, they are not living. Not even the word survival could be used to describe their circumstances. It’s appalling. Home after home we visited, tragedy after tragedy. Not one home is not affected by poverty. 8 people in a house, not one person can read. 10 year old boys working in the quarries because dad was injured last year and there is no one else to earn anything. The guys from the church we were travelling with came away more shocked than we, with the added embarrassment that this was their country, their people.

Then 3 more days visiting around Cairo with more homes full of people in desperate need. Where do you begin. Syrian refugees, Sudanese and South Sudanese refugees, local people, people living off garbage. Injustice, unfairness and abuse abound…. There is no hope this side of eternity for many of these people.

But we met some who are trying to help and planting hope in peoples’ lives and we were inspired by their tenacity, commitment and tireless work. There are people we can come alongside.

I was reminded that organizations cannot break a cycle of poverty, abuse or violence. It’s people who do that and we met some who are. They choose to step into one of those cycles and make a difference, to love, to care, to advocate and to live. Yes we can help.

Tonight, for one night we are staying at a resort on the Red Sea and Ain Sokhna. It’s beautiful and totally unexpected. Tomorrow it’s in the air again, on to Amman in Jordan.

Till next time….

Kevin and Helen.


Desperate - at many levels

2016-10-30 to 2016-11-05

For the last week we’ve been in Jordan and Israel and it seems to have flown by. It’s been fascinating to talk to people about victims of war and disabled children and young people. I guess the victims of war is kind of expected in this part of the world. And we’ve heard horrifying stories from Iraqi and Syrian refugees. As well there are many stories of hope. Great people inserting themselves into the drama and making a difference in the lives of others. One day we’d love to write the stories about some of these heroes. But right now, some would be compromised if we used their names.

For the first day in Jordan we talked with existing partners about some of their plans for not just relief, but helping people find their feet and training them for life here and after they leave, wherever they go. Young women from Iraq trained to sew and becoming proficient very quickly, deaf kids making the most beautiful mosaics and weaving and others making intricate olive wood pieces for sale.

Then it was across the border to Bethlehem. We walked the empty streets of Bethlehem past closed-down business after closed-down business; Christian businesses. Closed because of the pressure from Israeli policies, closed by Moslem pressures and the lack of tourists. Once 80% Christian, now 65% Moslem. Every Christian is trying to find a way to leave. The pathos in George’s voice was very evident as we walked and talked. By the way, unless the Western church wakes up, this will be the story of Europe and the West in 100 years from now.

We spent the evening with a remarkable couple from the UK who are here to help the most severely disabled children in Palestine. Their motto, “not one child in chains in Palestine!” There is a huge amount of inbreeding in Moslem families. The boys traditionally marry their cousins and sometimes, every child born to the couple is intellectually and / or physically disabled. He then marries the one he loves and leaves the first wife to look after the kids. She becomes depressed and has no skills to cope. So, the kids are often chained to a pole or locked in a room as there is great shame. We heard of one family with 6 kids like this, 4 of them severely disabled and living like animals. Special calling that couple. Desperate children.

Thursday we came back across the border to more disabled young people being helped in Jordan, such a contrast to the way Moslem’s treat their disabled. In this culture they can’t preach the Good News, but their lives are shouting the Good News very loudly. We travelled up to the city of As Salt and visited a remarkable man from The Netherlands. He has lived in the Middle East for nearly 60 years and has developed an amazing facility for deaf and blind children. Totally inspired.

Yesterday we spent the day with a remarkable couple whom we met in New Zealand. George and Mary are priests in an Anglican church and a have a lovely ministry to refugees, the poor in their community and elderly people.

Now the problem is, “what do we do about all these amazing people, how do we develop all these relationships?” We’ll file that in the too hard basket for now and move on to Lebanon in a few hours.

If you’re the praying type, here’s a request. We are meeting Tony and Leah from New Zealand in Bangalore on Wednesday evening. However, Tony has still not got his passport back from the Indian High Commission. They issued the visa on the 30th October but the courier company says they haven’t got it. So, he’s flying to Wellington from Hamilton on Monday to try and get it into his hot little hand. Pray he’ll find it? Please!

That’s us for now,

Kevin and Helen


Disappointing but trekking on

2016-11-06 to 2016-11-11

Well, someone had other plans, the passport has not yet turned up and Tony and Leah are still in New Zealand. So disappointing for them at the human level, but God knows what he’s doing. So, Helen and I are in Bangalore. We don’t know what sort of internet we’ll get in the next few days so we’ll make the most of it today to get this out.

Since last blog we spent 3 nights / 2 days in Beirut, Lebanon. There we were mainly talking with a church that has work going in Beirut with refugees. We heard so many stories of hope, life, growth and faith. In the midst of loss, God has shown up. That’s where he usually does from our experience. This church also has work in Jordan, Egypt, South Sudan and used to have in Syria and Iraq. So, there may well be a journey there for us.

Gordon and Barbara Stewart left us Monday and Tuesday morning we flew out of Beirut to Dubai. We overnighted there and (survived the earthquake that was the US elections) flew on to Bengaluru (Bangalore) in India. It’s warmer here and we didn’t sleep great the first night. I think I’m coming down with something too so that doesn’t help.

But today we’ve been full on at it visiting 3 partners. The Home of Hope we’ve talked about before. T Raja, the man is actually in New Zealand right now so we missed him but caught up with his wife Devi. Good to see it from her perspective. What amazing people. The Police deliver the human trash from the streets each night and they just take them in. We met Grasie again. T Raja rescued her from a pile of rubbish as a baby, dogs had torn her face and one eye was gone. She is now 18 and helping with the children.

Then it was to Vidya and Ruth Sagar’s place. Lovely meal and we explored opportunities for further partnership in rural villages. Such nice people, passionately serving their community and their God.

Then we went to visit Jesudoss and Paulrani who work with the LGBT community. They just care for them and love them, remarkable people. We spent an evening with about 20 friends who came to visit and hang out. Some are elderly now, others still work in brothels and came to visit for the night. They face such abuse and discrimination here. So much sadness and grief. What do you say when you’re asked to speak?

Oh boy, we’ve been reflecting on the extreme places our partners work and I just don’t know how most of them do it. They are remarkable people, that’s all we can say. A privilege to hang out with them and learn from them. 

Thanks for staying with us on this trip. We’ve had an interesting time. The day before we got here the Indian government announced that the 2 largest denominations of bank notes would cease to be of value from midnight that day! So, the next day all the banks are shut and now there are hundreds of people queueing up at banks to deposit their old currency. They can only put a certain amount in each day so the criminals etc are pulling their hair out. The ordinary bloke just can’t get any money. The ATMs have hundreds of people lining up. So, if you don’t hear from us for a few days it means we’ve run out of money and are out the back of some dive in Kolkata washing dishes.

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen.


more incredible people

2016-11-12 to 2016-11-17

The money issue from last report has sorted itself out for us, but not for most Indians. Since the last blog we flew from Bengaluru to Dimapur, through Kolkata. We spent 3 days there with our friends. We met and talked with the team and last Monday had a huge day driving. We left Dimapur at 4:00 a.m. and drove to Mokukchung. There were met a group of women we are training as community health workers. So far there are 15 of them. they travel around the borders of India and Myanmar helping women to care for themselves and their kids, dealing with practical preventative health and even delivering babies. The women in these places are very uneducated and poor and don’t have even basic survival awareness often.

So, we drove for 8 hours there and almost 8 back for a 2 hour meeting. We were completely whacked by the end of that leg of the trip. But, worthwhile, first time we’ve visited since we started that aspect of the project.

Then we flew to Kolkata on Tuesday and overnighted with new partners, Molay and Anita Kanti Das. They run kids programmes in a poor area of the city. 45 kids come at 7:30 a.m. for two hours before they go to school, 5 days a week. This couple are lovely, they live in the church building, the whole building would be about the size of our lounge back home.

Then to Siliguri to visit the Bright Hope School for girls. 98 girls are in the school with 29 living in. Most of these kids wouldn’t go to school but now they are doing really well and learning in English. They are Adavasi, Nepali and Bhutanese kids who are very vulnerable in this community. So it’s great to see them. they were practicing for house sports later in the week when we were there.

We had a day off on Thursday, part of the reshuffle because the McLauchlan’s couldn’t get here and the money issues. Our partner was not able visit us and we were not able to get to their place. It was to be a day trip to the Bhutanese border. We found, just opposite our $12 a night guest house the most amazing little roadside restaurant. Momos and chou mein. My goodness, what amazing food. We ate it standing on the street with dozens of other people. Fully fed the 2 of us for $1.50.

Friday we drove from Siliguri to Darjeeling. Amazing scenery and crazy roads and drivers! Oh my goodness. But we got here and next time we’ll fill you in on our time here in Darjeeling.

Tomorrow we start our journey home. It’s going to take us 3 days so we’re gonna be tired by the time we get there. We start at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow and drive 3 hours downs the mountains to Siliguri. Then 30 minutes to Bagdogra airport. We then have to wait from about 10:00 – 4:30 until for the 1-hour flight to Kolkata. We stay overnight and have plans to catch up with Graham and Sue Taylor, friends from way back who are working with Freeset. After a night near the airport we then have a 3 ½ flight to Dubai where we have to overnight again. Wednesday morning, we leave Dubai for the 16 ½ hour flight to Auckland. So, Thursday morning a couple of tried bunnies will arrive in Auckland….

Thanks for hanging in there for the journey, it’s almost over and next blog we’ll try to reflect on some of the stuff we have to process now.

Much love,

Kevin and Helen


Reflecting

2016-11-18 to 2016-11-24

We’re home. Whew! We left you on the way to Darjeeling last blog. Since then we met our partner there, Pradeep, and visited some of the people he’s working with. We met the women who have been trained in the beauty salon so they could get employment. Some of them have been able to get jobs and others are working from home. We gave them their certificates and they were very happy.

We then visited a woman who trained more than 20 women to knit and crochet. Many of those trained are now earning a living, most for the first time in their lives. They were so happy talking to us and telling their stories. It’s great to see churches empowering their people.

Then it was a visit with a young pastor who got just over $100 as a loan and has a business selling chicken meat. This fully supports him and his little family. And a woman from a village who used to grow plants and sell them to people who would then on-sell them in town for 3 – 4 times the price she was payed. But, she got a loan and for $40 and now she sells them directly and gets so much more than before.

The final day we did some sightseeing around the town, beautiful, quaint and very hilly. We walked for about 4 hours up and down crazy streets, steps and pathways. And we ate some amazing food on the street cooked by a lovely couple. Sheesh it was cold!

Monday morning we drove to Siliguri, waited for 7 hours in the airport and flew to Kolkata. We overnighted there and met kiwi friends, Graham and Sue Taylor. Lovely to catch up. Tuesday we flew to Dubai and overnighted there. Wednesday we flew the 16 hours back to Auckland. Wow, it was great to get home.

Some reflections from the trip:

We have many new opportunities for partnerships in Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon. We are excited as we start to develop them, I cannot bear to think how many pages I’ll have to write in the next 3 months. There are some wonderful people out there in most difficult circumstances serving their communities and their God.

We met many refugees on this trip. Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt…..virtually every country we went. Many of them are serving others, often other refugees. Empathy – the ability to enter into another person’s feelings. How can I empathise with a refugee. Not really possible. Little / nothing in my life has any point of connection with their experience. But, our partners who have been their can do it. And when Thomas, who had been a refugee 3 times by the time he was 18, tells his story, other refugees listen.

What can a 60+ year old geezer from a little Western country say to people like these? 1) 80+ vulnerable young people in a dusty little East African village; 2) 150 girls and young women in a school in the West of Kenya who are being married off at 12 years of age because their parents think of them as economic liabilities; 3) or 150 boys and young men at the same school who think their main aim in life is to play football and have sex with as many girls as they can; 4) two groups of Congolese refugees who are finding it hard to integrate into Ugandan society after 13 – 18 years of exile from their homes; 5) 200 – 300 newly arrived refugees who were promised water 2 days ago and it hasn’t arrived and their kids are sick and hungry (there were 200,000 in the one camp from South Sudan; 6) dozens of Christian families in rural Upper Egypt who are being persecuted and driven out of their ancient villages because they are followers of Isa; 7) 15 transvestites in India who are discovering genuine compassion for the first time in their lives…

We only just scratch the surface of deep issues and we walk away. But our partners don’t have that luxury. They stay, they choose to stay.

We could list a few others but we’ve gone on too long already. Maybe another would be the amazing street food you discover in India when you go into the back streets after dark. And if you survive the onslaught of flavour!

Time for dinner. Thanks for travelling with us.

It’s a month exactly until Christmas, so, Happy Christmas.

We’ll be back in touch in about March when the next trip is about to take off.

Much love

Kevin and Helen.


We're underway for another year

2017-03-18

In a couple of hours it's time for Kevin to head off to the airport as another year kicks in. There's already been a lot happening for us in terms of Bright Hope World in 2017. Our role has changed over the last couple of years as our team grows. We are still facilitating partnerships in The Philippines, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Armenia, Italy, Ethiopia, DRC, Sth Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Mozambique, Madagascar, South Africa and Zimbabwe plus a number of International partnerships. 

As well, our focus has been on developing new opportunities and in the last few months we have started new partnerships in India and Kenya. On the table being discussed right now are more new ones in Lebanon, Israel (West Bank,) Uganda with others on track in Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, India, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and the DRC. 

We are cutting back the amount of time outside New Zealand. Last year we reduced by about 8 weeks and this year will be around the same - about 16 weeks out of NZ. So, the first of 3 planned trips kicks off later today. 

It's only 3 weeks away to 4 countries:

First to Indonesia - meeting with a group of people who are seeing many people come to faith, many are then kicked out of their communities and familes. I'll be exploring how we can come alongside these people. 

Then on to The Philippines. I'll be heading off down to Palawan. It's an island off the West Coast. We're supporting a team down there who are working with the islanders to help them develop physically and spiritually. I'm really looking forward to that, it's evidently a beautiful place. 

Then off to Dubai and on to Ethiopia. Can't wait to see Worku again and catch up with what he's doing. I'm meeting reps from a US church who have been funding the partnership in Ethiopia. That will be fun with lots of videos and photos.

And finally with the same guys from the US I head off to Jordan for 4 days to check out what's going on there and hopefully see them engage in that needy place. Especially with the refugee familes that our partners are working with. 

I get home the weekend before Easter so we'll have time to catch our breath then. Helen will be at home some of the time and then will go to Sara's to babysit as Sara has an exam over a weekend. 

So, we're underway again. Thanks for coming with us, we so appreciate it. 

much love

Kevin and Helen 


I can't say too much

2017-03-18 to 2017-03-23

Since leaving on Saturday and travelling for a day I’ve been in Salatiga, Indonesia. The trip went OK but I spent more time in airports than I did in the air!! I'm well and truly over airports and airplanes. 

I’m not going to write much about what went on in Salatiga. The people I was with are working in dangerous circumstances among people from another faith. If their names, addresses or photos got out it could result in serious issues for them and the many people they’re working with.

I met some seriously impressive people. They work hard amongst their chosen people. I heard story after story of community and family transformation. Marriages saved, lost children found, kids reconciled to parents, families becoming self sustaining economically with small businesses, fish farms and other projects, children going to school and deepening faith.

I came away inspired and challenged. I keep asking myself, why could this not happen in our country. Is it beyond rescue spiritually, what stops God turning up at home like he does out here? So I’ve got a lot to think about now as I comb through 3 days of listening to see if there is something we could do.

I’ve discovered from these people that there are other tracks out of poverty that I’ve not seen displayed so clearly elsewhere. Strengthening families brings people out of poverty, often without the need for money. So it’s going to be an interesting few weeks as I chew through the data and develop a proposal.

I think I’m coming down with something. A cold sore has developed on my lip and that usually signals that I’ve got something or am run down. The people I stayed with had been unwell and I just hope I haven’t caught what they had. I guess I’ll know in a day or so if I continue to get worse. Feeling achy, not sleeping well, having to run to the loo frequently (not something I’ve had to do before!) Maybe I’m just getting old! So, if you’re into praying, I’d appreciate it.

I've now arrived in Manila, the flight from Jakarta took 4 hours and the trip across Manila took 3. And I have to do it all again at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. Tomorrow, Friday I fly with a friend down to Palawan, a beautiful island of south-west of Manila. No time for snorkelling unfortunately, lots of people to see.

lots of love.

kevin and Helen 


5 days in the Philippines

2017-03-24 to 2017-03-28

Manila, you crazy city! On arrival I was met by my good friend Vic and we spent the next 3 hours sitting on the motorway. We travelled a few kms. But so painfully slow. Anyway, you don’t need to hear anything from me about traffic jams! The very next morning we were sitting on the same motorway facing the opposite direction, back to the airport and a flight to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Long queues but got through with plenty of time. Hung out for about 3 hours until the plane left. No worries with the trip.

Vic works with our partner in The Philippines, ECPM – stands for something! They mentor groups of people who are sent into areas with no churches and train them on site.

We arrived OK in Puerto Princesa, caught a rickshaw to town, had some lunch and then another rickshaw to the minibus depot. Waited for about 30 minutes and then a 4 hour drive to Brookes Point. It’s a beautiful island much like the South Pacific. Many tourists come to Palawan but go to the north coast. We went South. We arrived about 6:00 and then spent the next 2 ½ hours talking with people from the leadership of the churches ECPM are working with. Lovely people. During that time we had dinner and then dessert? Very nice, coconut pie – real coconut.

Next morning we were up for breakfast at 6:30 and at 7:00 were off on a long day. We went to the home of Julius and Gemma Paalan who are part of the team ECPM is mentoring. Of course, more food. Then onto their open trike and a 20 minute journey up into the hills as far as the trike would take us. Then is was a 30 minute hike into the hills to visit the site of the team in Tula Tula village. There are 4 team members, Julius (Jojo) and Gemma and Grace and Bing, 2 local women. We spent the next few hours till about 2:00 hanging out, wandering around the village, listening to stories and eating. A lot of eating gets done here! Then another 30 walk trek out, more downhill than uphill. Back to Jojo and Gemma’s place for another snack and then a 45 minute trip on their open trike (flippin dangerous things) to Samarinyana.

There we met the team ECPM is mentoring, Pastor Ariel and Marylou and Tobing and Delores. We had a snack of black sticky rice soon after arrival and hung until the sun had disappeared. We chatted, met the people, heard lots of stories and I asked a few questions about the benefit of the ECPM mentoring. It’s pretty encouraging what’s going on here, not quite like Indonesia, they can’t quite leave the old church model behind.

Then we had another 20 minute ride back to the hotel in the dark with no lights on the trike just to make it a bit more challenging and dangerous! And bed….

Sunday we drove back to Puerto Princesa, then flew back to Manila, more sitting on the motorway and bed. Monday I spent with them team at the ECPM base where we talked strategy and the future. We went out to the hills overlooking Laguna Lake and then met the family of the previous ECPM leader, Elvin. It was the first time we had met since his death so it was a little sad and Itche shed a few tears as we talked.

I’m now in the lounge at Manila airport about to fly to Dubai. I overnight there and in the morning meet the team flying in from the USA and we fly to Addis Ababa. So, a couple of days travel to the next location.

Check out the photos and the map to see the location of Puerto Princesa in Palawan. Brookes Point is almost at the bottom of the island on the same coast.

Anyway, gotta. Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen


4 days in Ethiopia

2017-03-29 to 2017-04-02

My goodness, the last week has flown by. I’m currently in Amman, Jordan, but this blog will cover the time in Ethiopia. Last time I wrote I was in the lounge in Manila about to head over to Dubai. I had no hassles with the flights. Overnighted in Dubai and then on Wednesday morning met up with John and Ed, my travel companions for the next few days in Ethiopia and Jordan.

We got to Addis Ababa in the rain and to hotel and early the next morning, Thursday, flew off to Gondar in the North. The main reason for doing this was to capture as much as possible on video and camera about what's going on to take back to our partners church in Texas. We visited two of the senior citizen care centres which are going really well. We met some of the people involved. Some of the saddest people I’ve ever met. Abandoned by their families, their country and let down by their churches. Worku and his team come alongside them and love them.

We spent a lot of time at the school which is up and running. 380 kids in kindergarten and grades 1 – 4. In September 4 more primary grades will be added and there could be close 1,000 kids in there. It’s becoming a very impressive operation. It’s purpose is to generate income to fund the senior citizens programme and the development work going on way out the West on the border with Sudan. We came away very impressed by what is happening.

Just the week before, Worku was given an award for the impact of the work he is doing. He didn’t go to pick it up, no time for that sort of nonsense. Humility is something that oozes out of him. His organization is shaming the government into action. The want him to do more, but of course without any money from them!

The school has become a model school in Gondar and the education people come to look and learn. They are astounded at the quality of the facility, the education and the values that at the core of the organization. He is very selective choosing staff and insists on high standards.

One morning we arrived early to get footage of the day at school. The first bus load of kids arrived singing. I wonder how many Western busloads of kids arrive at school singing? These kids love education, they cannot wait to get out of the house and into school. Their parents cannot believe how this is so different to other schools. It’s just lovely. We had such fun with the kids.

I’ve put in a few photos to help you get the idea.

I’ll be back in touch in a few days with the Jordan leg of the trip. Meanwhile, I trust you’re inspired.

Warm regards

Kevin 


4 days in Jordan

2017-04-03 to 2017-04-07

Wow, home. It’s been an absorbing 3 weeks with so much to see and now process. The 4th and last country of the trip was Jordan. We saw a lot in those 4 days. John and Ed were with me looking at the opportunities for partnership there. Ed is the video guy for Chase Oaks Church so the purpose was mainly to capture some stories of life in Jordan with our partners there, Manara (Lighthouse.)

We arrived early last Monday morning having overnighted in Dubai and we were straight into it. We dropped our gear at the hotel and then on to the Manara in Amman. We jumped into the van with some falafels for lunch and then we went north to Mafraq. There are many Syrians living in the huge camp we tried to visit last time in Jordan. Hundreds of Syrian families are living in little clusters all around the north of Jordan. They are registered with the UN, but they cannot work, their kids can’t go to school and they are struggling. A church in Zarqa has come alongside many of these little temporary villages and is helping them. We visited, talked to the leaders, went to the tent schoolroom they use, gave them some food supplements and hung out for a bit. We spent most time with a family group of about 80 people, 14 families. They were all from one village in Syria before being driven out. They are honey people, reasonably well off at home, but now living off the scraps they can find. It was a warm Spring day, I cannot imagine how miserable it was during the depths of winter.

Then back to Zarqa to the church that supports these people. We spent a couple of hours at the clinic in the city. 140 people a day come between 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. We heard many stories, people needing minor ops and assistance but few resources are available. John and Ed went out to interview a couple of families. The trip home in the bus was very quiet.

The following day we headed South to Petra. I’ve been to Jordan 5 times and never been so it was a treat to finally see it. For those who don’t know about Petra, check it out on the internet? World Heritage site, very cool! 

We left early in the morning and drove there. On the way back we stopped off near Karak to visit a small farm / orchard and a little sheep milk and cheese factory.

Then we drove through the impressive Wadi Mujib which stretches across Jordan from the Desert Highway to the Dead Sea covering more than 70km. It is proudly known as the ‘Grand Canyon of Jordan’. Aside from being spectacular, it is also significant as the historic boundary between the ancient Amorites (to the north) and the Moabites (to the south). Moses is believed to have walked through Wadi Mujib, when it was known as the Arnon Valley. The canyon is 1 km deep and 4 km wide but it takes 18km of road to switchback down one wall of the wadi, across the dam at the bottom and up the other side. From the picturesque olive groves of the upper plateau, on either side of the wadi, there is no hint of the upheaval that renders the land in two.

We got back to Amman in time to have one of Nihad’s amazing meals and then to bed. We were able to sleep in a bit on Wednesday and then spent the day around Amman. We visited a sewing programme with Iraqi refugees, the site for another proposed sewing programme, interviewed a couple of the key people at Manara, then went to a food distribution at one of the churches that Manara partners with. Then another amazing meal at Nihad and Isam’s. It would be hard for me to imagine nicer food.

The US guys left on Thursday morning and I worked away at the hotel and Manara for the day and then at 11:00 p.m. headed out to the airport. The plane left at 2:15 a.m. and 3 hours later I was in Dubai. Then in the lounge for 4 hours and then 15 hours in the plane, I slept for 9 of them!! and like I said earlier, home, sweet home. Thankyou Lord!

thanks for coming with me. It's been a pleasure having you along. Thanks for praying and encouraging us, we so apprecaite it. We have 10 weeks to get the next trip together. So until then, it's bye bye from us.

Kevin and Helen. 


Africa, here we come

2017-06-21 to 2017-06-22

It’s time to buckle up for another 7 weeks on the road and in the air. Helen and I leave at midnight Friday for the next safari. This is a true safari, in the land of safari, 7 countries of East, Central and Southern Africa.

The last few weeks have been busy in NZ. Last weekend we ran Bright Hope World (BHW) regional summits in Wellington and Palmerston North. It was great to catch up with about 50 people as well as our facilitators in that part of the world. We have such an amazing team.

On this trip we’ll be:

1) travelling to Nairobi, Kenya through Hong Kong. We’ve got 19 hours to find something to do in HIng Kong. Then it’s about 12 days on the ground in Kenya with Mike and Jono Kemps. We’ll be catching up with all our Kenyan partners and looking at 3 or 4 new opportunities as well.

2) a week in Uganda, mainly checking out new opportunities with Congolese and Sth Sudanese refugees. The situation in Uganda is pretty difficult, surrounded by such  dysfunctional countries.

3) moving on to Tanzania for 8 days to visit our partner there and explore another opportunity in the north. This involves a couple of long bus trips so we’ll need a fair bit of patience and things to do!

4) then to South Africa to visit our partners in White River.

5) on to Botswana for a few days to check out an exciting new opportunity

6) flying into Bulawayo in Zimbabwe to spend 4 days with our partners and visit numerous communities they work with. In the process we’ll drive across the country and fly out of Harare

7) moving on to Zambia for 8 days at the Zambian property where we lived for 9 years back in the 80s.   We’ll be with a bunch of young leaders and then all our Zambian and Zimbabwean partners will be gathering for 4 days. It’s going to be great to hang out with them.

Then it's the long trek through Addis Ababa and HIng Kong again. we get home on the 10th August and will need a day or two to catch up I imagine! :)  We’ll update from time to time with the blog and photos, feel free to follow along and leave comments. If you check out the maps on the blog site you’ll see the itinerary as well. We love having you on the journey with us.

There are about 22 beds to sleep in, thousands of road kms to traverse, lots of meals to consume and people to visit. It’s going to be a wonderful time, made more interesting by your involvement.

We appreciate your prayers for our partners and us

Love and warm regards

Helen and Kevin                       


First week in Kenya

2017-06-25 to 2017-06-29

Hi friends, from the city of Nakuru, Kenya. We’ve been on the road for a week already and have seen so much I’m not sure we can cope with another 6 weeks of this! Our travel from New Zealand to Kenya went pretty well. 19 hours on the ground in Hong Kong was not a great idea. By the time we took off for another 10 ½ hours at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning we were pretty wasted. But we got to Kenya OK through the chaos of Addis Ababa airport, 3 planeloads of people at one gate with no announcements!!

Mike and Jono caught up with us at the hotel in Nairobi and we chatted through the trip before getting to bed.

We spent a lot of Monday in Mathare Valley talking to the team. On the previous Thursday the government declared Monday and holiday so there were no kids in school. But it gave us the opportunity to dig deeper into the issues our partners are facing. And it’s pretty frightening. The pressure they face is enormous, mainly financial. I honestly don’t know how they do it.

The next day we met with a potential partner in the morning and heard their story. They speak to around 250,000 teenagers a week in schools around the country. In the process they discover many needs. Will we partner with them, don’t know yet, quite a bit to think about with this one? Not sure fits us.

We then went back to Mathare Valley for more discussions. It was great for Jono and Mike to go into the Valley and see the kids in school and visit a family. It’s still a shocking place. While they were away we discussed more about the situation and also explored the potential of a loan programme. More talking to do on the one. So, there are still plenty of opportunities for partnership in Kenya.

After lunch we travelled across town to another partner, Ibrahim and Diane Omondi. They are lovely people, we love hanging out with them. they are deeply involved in community transformation and we whiled away the afternoon and evening talking about reforestation, Foundations for Farming, new areas of potential and training people. I always come away uplifted from time with them.

The next morning we climbed into the hired vehicle and after getting a few things sorted, headed out of the city to Nguluni. We began with meetings with the board of the school we’re supporting and were so encouraged by the progress. They are doing a wonderful job and in a couple of years it should be self-sustaining. That’s quite a feat for a school.

We then spent the afternoon and evening with old friends, Robert and Theresa Gitau. They have a hostel on site with around 20 children. These kids are brought to them by the government social workers. Their stories are heart breaking and horrific. One wonders how they will ever be able to live normal, productive lives after the trauma they are living through.

Thursday morning we visited a little kindergarten with a bunch of very cute little kids. And then we headed through some back roads to the town of Matuu. It took about 3 hours, we grabbed some lunch there and then headed 20 km into the bush to visit a little school. What lovely people they were. Such passion for the kids who are in strife in their community. And there are plenty of them. In the evening back to Matuu and a nice room for $20.

Thanks for hanging in there with us as we push on. A different bed each night ain’t the easiest way to travel. Tonight the place is pretty rough and smelly so it may not be a great sleep!

check out the photos.

Lots of love,

Kevin and Helen


Great people and hoards of kids

2017-06-30 to 2017-07-05

Wow, the last few days have flown by. Actually, for us they we driving by. Mainly! We have covered a few kms since Nakuru. Let me tell you about a few of the people we’ve met.

Last Friday in Nakuru we met some really nice people for the first time. At the beginning of the year their pastor was very concerned about the number of local kids who were not going to school. So he decided to start a school. He got it going and then at the end of April he and his wife were killed in a car crash. So a young woman teacher has been left with a bunch of older children to educate in their little school. Is it sustainable, can we help? Wow, we need wisdom about this as we engage with Linda.

Saturday we drove to Rongo, about 5 hours to meet Robert. And apart from a speeding ticket (don’t get us going about the fairness of it,) we visited Robert. He has 2 things going: 1) and programme for street women and vulnerable widows. He teaches the karate to the 40 or so women for fitness and so they can defend themselves and 2) he runs a women’s football team. We watched them training and were pretty impressed with some of their skills. We also watched them making liquid soap for sale to earn themselves an income. These are not young women, up into the 40s. we met Roberts mother and sister, so nice and great food.

Sunday we went with Robert to another partner, Jackeline. She lives just over an hour away in a rural village. Here she has organised the people into loan groups which we are supporting and provides sanitary pads for school girls. This is a huge issue for girls at school. Every month they miss a few days of school and then at the end of the year, because they have missed so much school time, they often fail exams. Then they have to repeat that class again. By the time they get to 13 or 14 they are way behind and leave, get pregnant or are married off by their families as they have become financial liabilities. The project provides disposable pads for 200 girls till the end of the year and also funds the making of reusable pads. We are hoping this will become a little self-sustaining business supplying pads to many more girls.

Monday morning we visited the school that Robert has started for street kids. He has such a soft heart but I fear it’s going to get him into grief with the number of kids. He has 186 right now, within a year of starting. So, it’s going to be tough to sort this one out. We just can’t see a way at the moment for it to be self-sustaining and Robert doesn’t have the time to work on that. Then, we drove to Kisumu and in the afternoon spent time with Bob, a lovely guy, pastor with a great passion for the lost and for the poor. Kids, vulnerable women and a plan to make it self sustaining. So, not so hard to decide about this.

Tuesday, day off!! Yay. Need one of them from time to time. Our travelling companions Mike and Jono left us and drove away in the vehicle to the Masai Mara Game Park. I’m sure they’re having fun.

Wednesday we spent the day with partners Gabriel and Grace. They have gathered groups of framers together and we spent the day visiting veggie patches and hearing the stories. We’ve been able to fund little water pumps to help them with irrigation and they are so thankful. They get the pumps from the loan programme and are able to access personal loans as well. Apart from a motor bike crash that I was on the back of, we’re doing OK, slightly sore arm a shoulder but it could have been a lot worse.

Along the way we met hundreds of beautiful children, see the photos, and some inspiring agents of change.

Off to Uganda today, sitting in Nairobi airport. See you in Uganda.

Much love,

Helen and Kevin


Uganda and refugees

2017-07-06 to 2017-07-12

Hey from Uganda, but only just, we leave tomorrow for Tanzania. Not sure how much internet we’ll have there so we may go quiet for a while, phew they all say, I hear the collective sigh!

It’s been an interesting week in Uganda. Our role here has changed. We have many partners here, but now we develop new partnerships. We’ve mainly been visiting new people, though of course, we always seem to bump into old friends from time to time. The people that facilitate the partnerships in Uganda, Matt and Judy O’Byrne will be here in about a week so all our partnerships, new and old will be well cared for.

The last few days went like this. Thursday we arrived from Kenya into Entebbe and got a ride into Kampala. Friends from the south of the country came and we made plans for the next 2 days. That night we slept in the noisiest hotel room in Kampala!!!

6:30 next morning, in the rain, we grabbed a taxi and headed to the bus park. There we boarded a bus bound for Fort Portal. 90 minutes later the bus was full and we were off. We drove nearly 3 hours and got off about 90 kms short of Fort Portal at the little town of Kyegegwa. This was our base for the night. It was still before midday so we found a hotel and rented a car for the afternoon. We travelled about 45 minutes into the bush to the town of Bukere, in the Kyaka 2 refugee zone. This has been home to refugees since the early 80s. We don’t have time explain it all here, but it’s now pretty much all Congolese refugees from around 2002 – 03. We spent the afternoon listening to their stories, frustrations and plans for the future. They are a remarkable group of people. About 200 adults in this church and about the same number of kids. They have formed themselves into loan groups and are mobilising their own resources. I think we can do something in this place.

Then back to Kyegegwa and we talked our way into the evening with friends Justus and Rueben. They too are remarkable young men. So proud to know them and see what they are achieving. Next day, back on the bus after 1¾ hour wait on the roadside. The bus was full and eventually ended up sitting in the very back seat!! Not great when the bus hits a speed bump.

Each day since then we have met with people. Sunday our partners who have a lot of work with South Sudanese. What a terrible place that is right now. They showed us videos no one should ever have to see. The trauma and genocide in that place is horrific. Yet it’s not on the news. It’s Africa. Disturbing and inspiring at the same time.

Monday we met with another potential partner working in the north of the country, mainly with kids and refugees. Ephraim, Jova and Grace came to visit us and we made some plans. We’ve known them for some time but it’s taken a while to really understand how we can help. It looks like some Foundations for Farming and help with vulnerable girls.

Tuesday we met with a remarkable man, Jean-Paul. He’s a Congolese refugee as well. He has been working with large NGOs but is sick of the lack of development in communities and has started his own group to work at the grass roots. The stories he told of his survival during the 2002 massacres around Nyankunde in the DRC are truly miraculous. And laugh, what a joyful man. No fear of anything or anyone anymore. Every day is a blessing and opportunity to help someone. We were totally inspired by the man and his character.

Today, Wednesday we’ve come from noisy Kampala to Entebbe as we fly out early tomorrow morning to Nairobi and then on to Dar es Salaam.  OK, we’ll be quiet now.  

In the meantime, appreciate your prayers and please, especially pray for wisdom as we try to process all the amazing stuff we’re experiencing and hearing about.

Lots of love

Helen and Kevin. 


Bus stations in Dar

2017-07-13 to 2017-07-20

A week ago we arrived in Tanzania. We arrived no worries in Dar es Salaam and overnighted near teh bis station. Really helpful people met us, but we were pretty shot by the time we got to bed on Thursday evening. 

The next day we were off at 4:45 a.m. to the bus station and onto the bus. Crazy places bus stations. We sat for an hour and then off we went. Exactly 12 hours later we were in the town of Tunduru in the south of the country. The next few days were a blur as we:

Hung out with Mutita and Charity Kazimoto and two of their kids, Neema and Atipa. We spent a lot of time listening to their vision.

Played with the 4 babies they are caring for. These kids have sad lives, mothers have died in childbirth, family don’t want them, no living parents. These kids are part of the family, some will stay for a while, others for much longer. 1 little set of twins will probably never leave.

Visited their property to see the start of their vision for self-sustaining the family, training others and bringing boys from the streets.

Visited the District Commissioner and of course, he had to show us his pet project, a clinic. He’s a vibrant young guy with a very difficult job.

Spoke at church about sustainability and got a lot of feedback. They want us back to do a seminar!! Don’t like the sound of that one.

Ate lots of ugaali and Sunday lunch was at a pork joint, pretty interesting experience.

We came away with a lot to think about. Very needy people mainly Moslem people being helped. And then, the bus ride back to Dar. This time, 14 hours and the last 2 in horrendous traffic. When we got to Ubungo bus station they had lost the keys to the luggage compartment. Another 2 hours in the bus park waiting till they keys were brought. By this time it’s 10:00 p.m. and we are seriously over travel of any sort.

The problem was, a partner from Kenya had travelled all the way from Kenya to take us to visit a village way north of Dar in Tanga Province. He thought a bus might be good, no way, not another trip like yesterday. So, we hired a car, Helen stayed back and on Wednesday drove 4 hours north and 5 hours back, traffic again! We were pulled up by the police 3 times and on the 3rd occasion I explained a few things at which point they let us go. Blatant robbers and thieves.

And the village. You would not believe that people live like this. I cannot describe the extreme nature of the poverty in that village. The closest water is 6 kms away. They bathe from a small bowl maybe once a week. Their feet are infested with jiggers. They are malnourished and it’s harvest time. Many of the kids don’t go to school. What to do? They have a dream but are we the ones to come alongside it? My goodness, how do you not do something.

Such fear and superstition. Such ignorance and poverty. I will never stop being shocked by this.

Today we’ve been resting although, our partner from Kenya, Robert, was robbed on his way to the bus station this morning so that ruined his day. Lost everything except his phone and his passport including the funds to get home. They bashed a leg and his chest and he had to go to hospital and get treatment. I don’t fancy traveling like he will be tomorrow. Bus stations are dangerous places here.

So, a lot to think about again. This continent is quite capable of caring for its own people but it seems to rip them to shreds, enslave, oppress and send destroy them far too soon.

While there are such wonderful people here, it’s despite the place they live not because of it. It’s because they are living out the purposes of God in a desperately dark place.

Catch you again soon. Much love,

Kevin and Helen


trekking in Sth Africa and Botswana

2017-07-21 to 2017-07-27

The weeks are flying by and we’re struggling to keep up. A few highlights from the last week.

We had a pretty uneventful shift from Tanzania to South Africa despite the very early morning. The flights have all gone very smoothly so far for which we are very grateful. We had 2½ hour layover in Johannesburg before flying on to Nelspruit last Friday. Our friends were there to meet us and we visited the site of our partners work for a short time before heading off to the guest house. It was pretty nice actually. We had planned to have a couple days break after all the long hours on buses. So we got that. Saturday we just rested and Sunday morning we did a game drive in Kruger Game park. Nice. We saw 3 of the big 5, elephant, buffalo and rhino. The highlight was spending a few minutes with a pair of cheetahs, you don’t often see them in the wild these days. Seeing them made up for missing the lions and leopards.

Monday we hung out for the day with our partners. We heard many stories of the hard work they do amongst the people affected by HIV / AIDS and all the other things that come with that disease. There are disturbing trends occurring in the community and they are trying their best to deal with them.

They are pretty disappointed that two large donors have pulled out too. One has set up their own work in the community, almost in opposition! Western donors need to be very careful how they treat locals. I am again appalled at the arrogance of many Westerners, especially large Western churches who use locals to gain access to a community and then do their own thing. We visited a family, the conditions would break your heart. One 10 year old boy is about to become and orphan as his father is in the last throes of a battle with HIV / AIDS and cancer.

Tuesday morning we visited our partners again and left with the singing of the team ringing in our ears. My goodness, they can sing. Again, very moving. Then it was on to the plane back to Johannesburg. We grabbed some lunch and went through immigration and as we walked away ran into a couple from New Zealand we know who were just returning to NZ from a couple of months in DR Congo; Geoff and Carol-Anne Paynter. So we hung out with them over coffee for an hour or so before boarding the plane to Gaborone, Botswana.

We’ve been here a couple of days talking with a potential partner. He has a huge vision but I’m just not sure yet if this is for us. Time will tell . they are lovely people, Ugandans and very committed to the future of Africa. Not common to find people who have a continental vision. It’s an interesting place to visit, so different to many other places in Africa we go to.

Did you know that between 2015 and 2030 there will be 2 billion children born in Africa? Get your head around the implications of that.

So, just a few more hours here in Botswana, this time tomorrow we’ll be in Zimbabwe. It feels like we’re now on our way home, slowly.

Lots of love to you all!

Kevin and Helen 


community transformation in Zimbabwe

2017-07-28 to 2017-08-01

Zimbabwe was a great visit. last Friday we flew from Gaborone to Jo’berg and then on to Bulawayo. Gideon was there to meet us and we went off into the village of Mthombothemba to visit the headman. He wanted to host us to show appreciation for the support though our partners. Great meal and lots of stories. Then it was a whirl of visits to people who are part of the partnership. Great to see this arid rural area becoming a flourishing community. We heard story after story of huge increases in production, kids going to school, gardens being grown, goat herds expanding and for the first time, real hope being expressed in people’s conversations.

We then went back to town around 8:00 pm after a lovely time with 25 young kids who live with Gideon and Jennifer. We got some internet and then to bed, it was cold. We woke the next morning and it was raining, it never rains at this time of year. We hung out with 5 of the 9 kids who live in the house and go to school in the town. We were supposed to leave for the bush at 2:00 but it was well after 4:00 by the time we found diesel. Then it was 5 hours into the night travelling along dangerous roads till we arrived at the top of a rocky outcrop way out in the bush; and food!

The next couple of days we saw a lot of stuff, we’ve got so many notes I’m not sure we’ll be able to write it all up. On the Sunday I had to speak at a church under the tree to about 70 people, then it was off to the next village and a meeting with a bunch of people who grow gardens together, who have a chicken project and a goat project. It’s made a huge difference to these families. We heard about them sending their own kids to school, building houses from the sale of goats, children being much healthier  and real excitement after just one season.

Monday was more of the same in another community with 105 families growing gardens together and real depth of change occurring in one of the poorest villages in Zimbabwe. Our partners there are making such an impact. We came away really encouraged.

We’re now in Zambia, Helen’s suitcase had an extra night in Jo’berg but caught up with us. So, the final chapter of this trip is happening around us now, we’ll be back in NZ this time next week.

We so appreciate your friendship and interest. Check out the photos we’ve put up and feel free to comment or be in touch.

Love and shalenipo mukwai!

Kevin and Helen


Zambia - on our way home tomorrow

2017-08-01 to 2017-08-07

Hi there, hope you’re doing OK as another week begins for us here in Zambia. It’s been an interesting week, staying for a week at the place we built and developed in the 1980s. Of course, it’s very different now and that’s great, it needs to be different. Different people, different circumstances different issues. We’ve got up to a few things while here:

We spent time talking with staff members here, old friends we first met in the 80s and a lot of new people as well. So, it was all go. Now, we have 2 days to catch up with things before we start heading home. In about 24 hours we’ll be heading to the airport to start the trek home. We have a 4 hour flight from Ndola, Zambia to Addis Ababa then 2 hours on the ground. Then it’s 10½ hours flying to Hong Kong and a 5 hour wait there until we catch Air NZ to Auckland, about 11 hours. We get back to Auckland at 10:00 a.m. Thursday.

We have seen so much it’s going to be a challenge to get it all written up. There are many things to think through and make decisions about and a lot to organise as a result of this trip. While we’ve been travelling many of our team members have also been out and about so there is a lot of catch up with them required as well. So, we’re not expecting to have much spare time in the next few weeks.

But you know, when we see and hear so much life change, so much community development and growth. So much dealing with the deep issues of poverty going on, it’s all worth it.

Thanks for being on the journey with us, we so appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the photos as well.

Love and warm regards

Kevin and Helen.


Hey, wake up!

2017-10-07

Hey, wake up, it’s time to go to the airport. I’m leaving in about 24 hours. Yea time has flown quickly, I can’t believe it’s time to head away again. But, I look around the room and my bag is packed so I must be leaving.

I’m off for 25 days without Helen this time. There are pros and cons to travelling alone. Cons – we miss each other and there don’t need to be any other. That trumps any others. Pros – mmmmm, trying to think of one. I get a lot more done while travelling alone but the quality of relationship building suffers. A lot of partners are very disappointed when they hear that Helen isn’t coming!!!

Tomorrow I head off on the 17 hour flight from Auckland to Dubai, arriving early in the morning. I have a 16 hour layover so get a complimentary hotel room to rest in. Then it’s off to Lahore, Pakistan, arriving at 2:00 a.m.!! 3 days and nights there before catching a bus to Faisalabad Friday the 13th.  2 nights in the village near Toba Tek Singh before driving to Rawalpindi for 2 or 3 days. There’s a lot to see in Pakistan. The partnerships are growing and I’ll be talking through what the future looks like. I’ll try to give you some insights while there.

Then on Wednesday 18th I’m off to Dubai and on to Cairo, Egypt. I’ve got a couple of nights in Cairo with existing and a couple of emerging partnerships. Then down to the city of Helwan to visit a partner before heading back to Cairo for the night. Sunday 22nd I’m back up to Dubai overnight and then on Monday 23rd I head off to Yerevan in Armenia.

I’ve got 3 nights there with partners visiting the city of Vanadzor where our partners have projects. It’s a depressing place and you’ll get that when you see the photos.

Thursday 26th I’m back up to Dubai, a 7 hour layover before meeting up with a friend from the US and we fly to Ethiopia. We overnight there, then on Friday 27th it’s up to Gondar and time with our friend Worku. Some amazing things happening there which I’ll tell you about. The guy from the US is the Missions pastor of Chase Oaks Church, Plano, Texas who have been funding the development of the Ethiopia partnership. They also help in Uganda, Kenya and Jordan with us as well and are great partners.

We have 3 nights in Gondar and then it’s back to Addis Ababa and on to Dubai on Monday 30th and overnight in Dubai. Then on the 31st it’s back to home losing a day on the way.

So, settle in for a fast ride. 12 flights, 12 beds, 5 countries and lots of adventures. Stay tuned in for updates. We sure appreciate you tagging along. While I’m away Helen has a few folks to visit around here through church connections and then she’s heading off to see Sara, Karl and Coco. After that she’s doing a road trip to Levin to catch up with some of her siblings. She is so looking forward to that.

Arohanui (“much love” in the Māori language, the indigenous language of New Zealand.)

Helen and Kevin


First days in Pakistan

2017-10-08 to 2017-10-12

I had a great flight to Dubai from Auckland, 3 seats to myself! Watched a movie, ate part of the meal and stretched out. 10 hours later, wow, only 4 hours to go! Had all Monday to layover in Dubai and did a 4 hour tour of the city. The spice markets were the highlight. It was 38 degrees and humid so not much joy standing around outside.

Then to Lahore, flight packed but only 2 ½ hours, landed at 2:00 a.m. Tuesday. No hassles and I’ve had the last 3 days around the Youhanabad area of Lahore. Met some really nice people and heard a lot of stories. The major part of the partnership here is a scholarship programme for school leavers. Some of them are truly incredible students who had no hope of attaining their dream without help. Edward, our partner has a really nice relationship with the kids and is a real encourager.

There are 2 major criteria for obtaining a scholarship and 2 types of scholarships. The main scholarship is for those who pass with very high marks. They almost always obtain a scholarship as long as they fit the 2nd criteria which is, the family is too poor to send them for study. Many young girls are married off or boys sent to menial tasks to earn some money, any money for the family. So a scholarship saves them from that.

Anika is just 15. Her father died earlier this year, he was a drug addict and abused her and the whole family. She has knife slash scars on her arms from his attacks. On the death of her husband, Anika’s mother took out a $500 loan from a loan shark. She had to repay $50 / month interest and of course, couldn’t sustain it. So, they threatened her and then attempted to kidnap Anika. The attack failed by the grace of God and Edward paid the loan off and saved Anika. Of course, all the trauma meant that Anika didn’t do very well at the exams. However, she got a one term scholarship and if her results are OK, and they appear to be, she can then apply for the 2 year scholarship.

So there are short term loans for kids to see if they actually have the ability to do well. And then there are 2 year loans for students to get degrees and do post graduate study. I’ve met young people with huge smiles of gratitude who are becoming nurses, teachers, accountants, doctors and lawyers. None of them would be studying at this moment without the scholarship. Yesterday I spoke with about 100 of them, vibrant and full of life and a little shy with the big white guy.

Today we visited a little school for street kids, the other end of the education system. Such tragic lives these kids live. They are all Christians in a minority situation and are victimised and stigmatised at every turn. Their families are having their houses burned and bought by others. They have been shifted to another area to live and have had a wall built around them. Every morning they wake up and this is their life.

This afternoon we were at a little training centre. 17 young women are learning to sew and are so proud of their achievements. We were just finishing the programme when news came that one of the young men in the community had been killed in a road accident. So, the programme changed.

Tomorrow we’re off to Faisalabad, about 3 ½ hours away and then on to Islamabad on Sunday.

Shukriya and God bless

Kevin and Helen 


rural Pakistan villages

2017-10-13 to 2017-10-17

Hi friends, a brief update. My time in Faisalabad was largely made up of visits to a number of rural villages where there are sewing programmes. We visited 4 existing ones and a couple of potentials. A few comments / observations about my time in the villages:

Teaching a woman to sew has the potential to completely change the life of her family. I heard many stories and on Sunday met 5 young women who work in sewing factories in Faislabad, they got the job because they had received a certificate from the programmes our partner organises. These girls earn a basic salary of $160 / month and they often get overtime as well. Much of that is sent home to the family and is in most cases is by far the largest amount of income for the family. They were so excited to be able to do this. They feel like they are respected and that they have purpose, not just a burden on the family.

Rural poverty is such a brutal, disempowering thing. I sat for an hour with one group of about 15 women. Of the 15, some as young as 11, only one could read and she was the only one who had done any schooling, to class 5. Some of kids there were not going to school. They could not afford $.20 / month to send them to the school about 500 metres away! What future is there for these people apart from drudgery? Some were 30 and looked 50. Some were obviously chronically underfed, the life and colour drained out of their faces and eyes. Such sadness, such deep, deep sadness. So damaged, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I came away under a cloud of hopelessness. It took hours to lift and still haunts me.

We gave certificates to a group of young women who were so excited. For the first time in their lives they had achieved something and were being recognised for it. It’s so important for them to be seen, acknowledged and applauded.

I spent an evening with a group of about 50 Christians in village # 132 RB. They are a group of about 60 Christians families in a village of 2,500 families. I was the first white guy to visit and they were so encouraged to be told that they belonged to a family in every nation on earth. They listened intently for the 30 minutes I spoke to them, such a hunger for God’s Word, I’ve rarely seen the like of it. They would have stayed all night I think. I managed to trip over in the dark and fall, uninjured, as we walked to the house where we ate. They were so shocked for me they kind of propped me up and dragged me along the rest of the walk, it must have looked very odd. Then while we were meeting, sitting around on the beds, one of the beds crashed to the ground, mind you, it had 5 guys sitting on it. There was much laughter that evening as the remembered my fall and the death of the bed.

The food, oh my goodness. Some of it is just astounding in flavour. Not hot, just so much flavour. And delivered with such kindness. We have such a false impression of Pakistan in the West. These are such lovely people.

One more. Yesterday I was at a school celebrating 7 years of existence. In a drama, the children, all shook their fists at “terror” and terrorists and shouted, “we’re not afraid of you, you cowards, you have picked a fight with all the children of Pakistan. We will be educated.” Wow, how many kids in Pakistan? About 80,000,000 under the age of 14!!! That’s a fight no terrorist can defeat, more potent that any army, if only there was more investment in education rather than guns and other arms!

Off to Egypt tomorrow. Just winding up here,

Catch you later

Kevin


Egypt - rubbish!

2017-10-18 to 2017-10-23

Another airport, waiting. They took my multi box at the security as it is possible to use it as a weapon! Had a great chat with a guy from the Netherlands who lives in Bangladesh and is going to Tanzania on a project about tourism and children – he’s contracted to UNICEF. Now waiting for the plane to Yerevan, Armenia.

I had an interesting time in Egypt. I finalised the shape of a new partnership, a loan programme organised by an outstanding woman, Hanaa. 100% repayments and 100s of families waiting for assistance. I’m hoping we’ll get it up by the end of the year.

I met with about 60 participants in a training programme in Cairo. Hairdressing, beauty treatments (make up for bridal parties,) English and computer skills (the participants were the staff of a Christian orphanage near Garbage City.) I got to hand out certificates for about 10 women who had recently completed their hairdressing course. Pretty cool to see women getting the first qualification in their life. One woman came 4 days a week from 150 kms away. 9 hours a day travelling for a 3 hour course. What people will do to get out of poverty! Most of the courses are 50 hours in length.

I also met with a group of leaders who want us to partner with them to assist poor, rural Christians to get animals to help them survive. The poverty in South Egypt is pretty intense and add to that the fact that they are persecuted, a recipe for deep poverty and hardship.

Then south to Helwan. S and P are great people. They spend every free minute serving the families in Rubbish Mountain. I spent the day talking to them, seeing them at work, visiting people, running kids programmes, overseeing a team from Cairo who were visiting and doing medical interventions and then church at night with more than 200 people keen to know and hear. I stayed a couple of nights with them and so enjoyed their company and the family.

Observations:

Poverty is much more than economic. It affects all aspects of peoples’ lives - their relationships, education, health and future. When you understand that, you understand that in the West we are as poor as anyone in any slum in any city in the world.

Hope and encouragement are so important. We find ourselves in extreme places and often the best gift we give is time, to hear what they are really saying. To listen unconditionally, not to get information from them, not to be thinking about the next question, just to be there, in the moment. The impact of a few hours of listening can last for months.

I heard numerous stories on this leg of the trip about do-gooder westerners who have come and gone from the rubbish cities. They use local people to get into their network and then attempt to control them with $$$s. They usually last for only a year and then leave, often criticising the people they used. We have a little mantra when it comes to helping people; “above all, do no harm.” Shame on these NGOs that use people for their own agenda. You are a blight on the development landscape.

Enough, I’m getting agitated. I’d better sign off!

Helen has been visiting friends and family in New Zealand and gets home tomorrow. So both of us are travelling and in need of your prayer.

Thanks for listening to my rantings,

Have a great week.

Kevin and Helen.


Armenia - pathos

2017-10-23 to 2017-10-26

The weekend is here and I’m about to start thinking about home. I’m safely in Gondar, Ethiopia, sans luggage! So, it could be a smelly few days. Hopefully it will catch up with me tomorrow!!

Armenia was really interesting. Got to hang out with some interesting people, hear stories of shocking injustice and meet some very poor people living in unspeakable conditions.

I only had 2 days and 3 nights and spent most of the time in Yerevan and Vanadzor. In 1988 there was a huge earthquake in the Vanadzor area, about 25,000 people were killed and 130,000 injured. It was part of the Soviet Union at the time and temporary housing was trucked in, small container sized boxes with wooden floors and made of tin sheets. 30 years later they are well past their use by date and in appalling condition and people still live in them. It’s hard to describe how bad it is, the black, mouldy walls, collapsed ceilings and rooves, the pervasive musty smell, rotted floors and bare earth and rats bigger than cats. After 2 months of snow these vermin become aggressive and attack people, especially kids. I visited on a warm autumn afternoon and it was chilly in the houses. I can’t imagine imagine what it’s like with a metre of snow outside and minus 20 degrees.

Hardship is etched deeply into the wrinkled faces of the elderly and the dull eyes of parents. My guess is they dread the next few months that loom ahead of them. Not enough wood to burn, freezing days of deep cold and hunger and hacking coughs for the next 8 months. Summer is short in this part of the world and hope was abandoned many years ago.  

I came away despondent, I just cannot see a way out for these people and those beautiful children. We spent a lot of time talking about how to transition these people out of poverty, not to just keep them alive and poor by giving them aid for life. Something has to change for them. Unfortunately, there are few supports, even the churches are useless. They are not interested in the poor and these kids face ridicule and carry the stigma of poverty like an odour wherever they go.

After 2 days there I came back to Yerevan and spent a lot of time talking with Yakob. He’s an Armenian from Syria and now lives in Germany. It was so interesting to hear his story which goes generations back. For all Armenians the great event that haunts them is the genocide in Turkey 100 years ago. They were chased out of their homes and forced to flee and along the way 1 million of them lost their lives at the hands of the butchers. Many went south and ended up in the Middle East, as far south as Egypt. Their bones are scattered throughout this troubled region. Yakob’s family ended up in Syria and built a good life there until, and his demeanour changes, now it’s personal. History is repeating itself over again in his lifetime. He was such an engaging young man, deep, old forces have shaped him. He speaks English, German, Armenian, Arabic and is a passionate follower of Jesus. We talked for hours.

This country, it’s people and this region really gets to me. There is something very gripping, enthralling and poignant about this intergenerational, long term, historical injustice. 

At 4:30 a.m. on Thursday I left for the airport with and a day of travelling. In Dubai I met John Stanley from Chase Oaks Church in Texas and we flew on to Addis Ababa. No luggage awaited me.

Catch you in a couple more days, I’ll write again before leaving Ethiopia. I leave here on Monday to begin the trek home.

Love and thankfulness,

Kevin and Helen 


great time in Ethiopia - budgets!

2017-10-27 to 2017-10-31

I’m sitting in Dubai airport again, 5th time through here on this trip, about to catch the plane home. The flights to and from Dubai to Gondar have been pretty uneventful though yesterday the flight from Gondar to Addis ended up being 2 flights instead of 1. But we had plenty of warning and time.

Ethiopia was interesting but very different to the other places. The purpose of the one partnership we have there is to support widows, blind and poor and a church planting movement. The strategy is to build a school that will generate enough resource to support this work from within the country. A large church in Texas has been partnering with us and the great thing is that after 9 years the end is in sight. John Stanley, the Outreach pastor of the church was there with me. We met in Dubai and spent 4 days together working through plans and budgets with Worku. 

The budgets also included other partnerships in Uganda, Kenya and Jordan as well as Ethiopia.

This year the school has 1,250 kids and next year will reach 2,000. It’s great to see the buildings finally filing up with kids and all the life, noise and vitality they bring. The time next year, on the 10th anniversary of he partnership the funding from outside will finish and it will be fully self sustaining. We're planning a celebration in Texas.

Here are some of the existing outcomes of developing this partnership:

I’m budgeted out but very thankful to God for the great partnership in Ethiopia with Worku Tafete and Chase Oaks Church, Plano, Texas. Right from the beginning this was a God partnership, so much came together that could not be organised apart from God appointments and meetings. So, thanks to God for making this possible. And despite all sorts of barriers and obstacles, the tenacity, wisdom and patience of Worku has been a real challenge to those of us involved.

So, in about 20 hours from now I’ll be landing back in New Zealand.

Thanks for being with us on this journey, we so appreciate your partnership with us in this venture,

Warm regards

Kevin and Helen


New Year, off to India

2018-01-11

Hi friends, hope 2018 has started OK for you? We’re doing well, we had the chance to have a bit of a break and we feel refreshed. But, another trip looms very large and we’re off again.

Later today Kevin heads off to Singapore and then on to Indonesia. Meanwhile, Helen is heading to Tauranga to visit Sara, Karl and Coco for a few days. After that she’ll be visiting a few friends on the way back home, she’ll be away for about a week.

Kevin has 2 days on the ground in Indonesia introducing some of the Bright Hope World team to our donors and 3 visitors from a church in the US who are considering partnership with BHW, maybe in Indonesia.

Sunday we all head back to Singapore and meet a few other BHW team and head off to Bangalore, India. All our partners from India and Nepal will be together there. It’s a great way to meet everyone in a short time and for them to hear from each other and learn. We’ll be learning too as we spend time together. Each of them will tell their story and we’ll share as well. I’ve got 3 sessions to facilitate and lots of interviews to do. After 3 days of that we stay on for 2 more days to visit the 3 local partners. We have new facilitators beginning in India and Tony will be with us. So I'll spend quite a lot of time with him, introducing him to our partners and helping them get acquainted. 

Saturday the 20th we head back to Bangkok with the USA guys and after a day with them I head over to Cambodia for 3 days to get some dental work done. We have friends there I’m staying with and will save hundreds of dollars per tooth.

I get back to NZ on Thursday the 26th, away for 2 weeks. We’ll miss out 44th wedding anniversary together, but we went out last night to celebrate. Friday the 27th we go to Nelson for our annual BHW Gathering. Many of our team will be gathering so it will be a lot of fun. only there for a couple of days before heading home again. 

I’ll stay in touch as I travel. We don’t like starting the year this early as we miss a lot of summer here when the grandkids are not in school. But, we’ll have February and March to see them and hang out. I leave again for another trip on Easter Sunday, April 1st.

So, strap yourself in, we’re off in about 5 hours from now.

Love and best regards

Kevin and Helen. 


In a bit of a daze

2018-01-12 to 2018-01-16

I’ve been trying to write this update for a few days and it’s just not been coming together. I’m kind of in a daze from all the stories I’ve been listening to and the hardships our friends are going through to serve their God and their people. It’s disturbing and inspiring at the same time.

I was in Indonesia for 2 days listening to stories from our partners about what’s developing there. It’s so hard to grasp and get my head around I just don’t know where to start. There is a huge groundswell or turning away from 1s1am to Christianity and our partners there are leading some of that. I was here in March last year and there were about 60,000 people in their network; 10 months later and there are now more than 100,000. They are doubling every 15 months and there is no sign of it slowing down.  

It was great to hear the stories and work through how to grow our support. We are involved in assisting those coming into the movement with loans to start businesses and restart their lives after being thrown out of their families. Many Christians are very poor and it’s a great help for them to be able to move out of poverty with loans and support from our partners. Because this is a hostile place for these people to operate in it’s hard to know how much to say on social media.

One of the guys has just had to move out of his village because of severe opposition. His chicken house and business was burnt down and he and his family were being threatened.

I’m now in India listening again to Christian people tell their story. We have called together all our partners from India and Nepal and are meeting in Bangalore. We’ve been listening to their stories, asking questions and learning together. It’s been very interesting.

The opposition they face is very disturbing. The government of India is increasingly hostile to minority groups. There has been hostility at the local level for years by rural radicals. Last year 10 churches every week were burnt down and thousands of Christians beaten and killed. But now it’s taken a more sinister turn and there is systemic prejudice towards Christians. Some of our partners have had their charitable status revoked, they are no longer consider charities and schools, hospitals, training institutions and empowerment programmes could be closed down. It maybe that soon we will have to physically deliver the funds to some partners.

I can’t say too much as it would be very easy to compromise people. I won’t put any pictures online either from this place, maybe from tomorrow when we go out to visit some of our partners. But I wanted to get this out to you. But I’ll tell you about one. One of our partners is rescuing people from the streets of Bangalore. He has 700 people living around him, most of them with mental illnesses. He came in to talk to us and he showed a video. As he showed the condition of the people from the streets and how they have to be treated when they come in was very graphic and many could not watch. Large open wounds and abscesses, lice and maggots, large cancer grots and tumours. Just horrible and confronting. T Raja is under huge stress and we don’t know how to best support him. The local churches won’t help, it’s too confronting and risky. We don’t know how he manages to exist, let alone help so many others.

That’s enough for now. I have just 2 more days in India before heading towards home. Thanks for your interest, prayer and support. 


on the way home

2018-01-17 to 2018-01-23

Hey there, I’m pleased to say I’m on the way back home. For some reason, trips by myself seem to take longer than when Helen and I are together.

The time in India was great. Such a privilege to spend time with our partners and hear their stories. But, more than their stories, to hear their hearts, their passion for their people stuck in poverty; here are some of them without names, locations or photos:

I’m still buzzing from it all and there is much more I could share.

For most of the trip we had 3 guys from the USA with us. Well, they say they are from Texas, but we all know that’s in the USA! They were good guys, very impressed with their attitude and willingness to learn. As I write they will be winging their way back to Texas, wherever that is. We hope they like what they saw and will in the near future begin to partner with BHW.

On Saturday we flew to Bangkok and I overnighted there before swinging up to Cambodia. We have kiwi friends in Phnom Penh and I’m staying with them while I get a couple of crowns put in my mouth. I’m saving $1,000s of bucks, the technology is the very latest. Very impressed. Helen had some done here years ago and had a great experience. Tomorrow it’s back to NZ arriving Thursday and Friday Helen and I go to Nelson to spend the weekend with our BHW team.

Meanwhile, while I’ve been away Helen has been having grandchild time. It sounds like she’s been having a blast. Right now she’s with Hugo and Joel. I think she’s meant to be babysitting  but my guess is there will be hijinks at that house well into the night. sssshhh, mum and dad are out!

Well, I had better sign off. In 30 minutes I go for a 30 minute tuk tuk ride across the city to get my crowns put in, temporary teeth at the moment!

Thanks for listening, hope you are encouraged.

Happy to hear from you,

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Easter and I'm off again

2018-03-31

It’s Easter, in a few minutes it will be Easter Sunday. I’m at Auckland airport about to head off on another journey. Helen dropped me off just over an hour ago and now I’m waiting for take-off. It’s a good time to update you about what’s happening.

4 countries in 24 days. 3 potential partnerships to visit and 4 existing partners.

I get to spend most of Sunday hanging around in Singapore before heading off to Pekanbaru in Indonesia. A Singaporean friend will be travelling with me to check out a local couple who run pre-schools, other stuff and who buy coffee from local growers. Should be interesting to look around Sumatra.

Next Thursday we fly back to Singapore and I leave my friend there and fly off to Dubai, overnighting there. Friday it’s down to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania for a couple of days to check out a community water project. I’ll meet one of our Kenya partners who introduced us to the village and a local pastor. We’ll be meeting with community leaders to assess their capacity.

I’m only there for a couple of days and then it’s back to Ethiopia. I’m hoping to get out to the Sudan border to visit some guys who are bringing some amazing changes into communities. I’ll also visit the school to check out changes and growth and hang out with Worku.

I’ll be then heading to Egypt for 10 days. 4 will be spent checking out a new partnership and travelling to south Egypt where there is a lot of poverty and many little churches with few resources. We’ll see if it’s possible to help or not. It will depend on their vision and plans. I’ll also visit 3 existing partners and for a couple of days will have 4 donors with me from the UK. So I won’t be lonely.

Of course, I’ll be writing updates throughout the trip so you are able to keep up. we appreciate your support and interest. While I’m away Helen will be travelling south for a weekend with her 3 sisters and then hanging out with Sara as it’s her birthday while I’m away. So she’ll be having some fun.

I’m hoping be able to show a few photos on this trip. Last trip it was too dangerous to show much as it’s becoming very fragile in India.

Anyway, I had better get this away before midnight.

Warm regards

Kevin and Helen


Indonesia and new friends

2018-04-01 to 2018-04-05

I'm in Dubai on the way from Indonesia to Tanzania. Indonesia was great. I was in the city of Pekanbaru, a 40 minute flight from Singapore. This Province is a centre for palm oil and ordinary oil production. I was made aware of the oil production on the flight in as the plane was largely full of American families returning after school holidays.

I was in Pekanbaru to visit Acca (pro. Acha) and Marianne. He’s Indonesian and such a likeable person. Marianne is Dutch and has been in Indonesia for many years. They have to funny little girls, Grace and Joy. It was a lovely time and we saw a lot. My reason for being there was to see if there is any potential for partnership with them. Of course it will take a little time to know what could be done, my first role is to try to see if there is potential there, if these people would be great partners and if they like us.

Anyway, some observations:

We ate at a number of little roadside stalls so it was basic food, very tasty, very spicy! A lot of fish, I’m not sure I like sambal, maybe an acquired taste. We stopped on the roadside in one town and ate durian. Love the stuff but of course, you can’t bring it home – the smell is appalling and all over Asia there signs in hotels – NO DURAN!

We spent one day hanging out at a preschool in a poor area of town where they are working. Lots of lovely kids. We went visiting in the community and yep, these people are really poor. One home we visited had just lost a 14 year old boy to TB. Can I say this, no one in the 21st Century should be dying of TB. It’s entirely preventable and treatable. But not for this little guy. I was impressed with one of the leaders in training, a 21 year old woman. After listening to the story from the dad, the boy died just 4 days prior, she stepped in and in a lovely way talked with the family and tried to comfort them. I wonder how many 21 year old Western kids would be willing and able to do that.

We travelled to and from the city of Dumai, 5 hours each way. An oil export port on the Malacca Straits. Huge, sprawling city, larger in area than Jakarta with only 300,000 people. The scale was impressive. It’s a very hard place to help people, a lot of resistance and superstition. We spent ½ a day with a group of pineapple farmers who are developing a co-operative. It was great to hang out with them and hear their vision,and eat pineapple!

The family has a clear vision but struggle as they are overwhelmed with the needs of people and it’s hard to stay focussed. Their home is like a railway station with people passing through. They support many kids and try to develop faith in them.

Hot, please remind me not to come to part of the world in April!

It was great to travel with a friend from New Zealand. Michael Tan is from Singapore but lives in Christchurch. His son in law, Emi travelled with us from Singapore too. His family is originally from Java so he felt quite at home. They introduced me to Acca and Marianne.

I leave with Acca’s laugh ringing in my ears. I reckon, without a positive attitude and a sense of humour it would be very tough to sustain this level of intensity.

Flying off to Dar es Salaam in an hour. See you soon,

Kevin


Moving about in East Africa

2018-04-06 to 2018-04-12

It’s Thursday and I’m in the city of Gondar, northern Ethiopia. If you were to track back through past blogs you would see numerous references to this place, especially to the school that has been built here. I’ve visited Ethiopia about 20 times in the last 12 years. The good thing is, later this year the project comes to a conclusion. 10 years of hard work is now bearing fruit. Right now there are 1,275 kids in school and by the next academic year is will go over 2,000.

Mind you, it needs to grow and produce profit as the purpose of this school is to:

Since last blog I spent 2 days in Tanzania. We visited a village of around 1,000 people who have no water. I travelled with Robert, a partner from Kenya and Fabian, a local guy who wants to help his people. Rarely have I seen such poverty. Most families of 6 – 8 people survive on about 20 litres of water every 3 – 4 days. The WHO organisation standard is 20 litres per day per person. Some of these kids have not washed for months. Unfortunately, there was a funeral in the village so most of the people were not around. Actually it’s probably not a bad thing. Being in a village like this one creates all sorts of expectations. We travelled over 500 kms that day and 30 minutes on the back of a motorbike as well.

Then it was up to Addis Ababa on Sunday. It was Easter Sunday here, they have it a week later than the West. On arrival to get a visa, there was loud music playing and most of the staff were dancing around the terminal. We all joined in as we waited for the one person working to deal with everyone. He did it reluctantly, all the while glancing at his colleagues dancing. Fortunately, I was at the front of the line so didn’t have to dance for long! I overnighted in Addis and early next morning flew one hour north to Gondar. We then hit the road for a 5 hour trip out to the West, towards the Sudan border to meet with a bunch of people. Worku and these guys are setting up a goat loan programme for Christian workers and missionaries and we went to work out the details. Tuesday, 6 hours back to Gondar and a bit of a rest.

I have spent way too many hours sitting on this trip, I would hate to count the number. I’ve seen 3 major road accidents and just averted a number of others by narrow margins. I’m very much aware that this is risky business and are glad people are praying and that God is in control

Take care,

Kevin and Helen.


Along the Nile

2018-04-13 to 2018-04-18

It’s Thursday again, where did that week go. I had a great time with Worku in Ethiopia. I am so inspired by that man and his vision, practicality, tenacity and ability to get things done. We spent some good time together. This project comes to an end in terms of funding later this year and in November we’ll be meeting with Worku in Texas to celebrate the completion of the funding. But of, course really only just begun in Ethiopia. Next year there will be over 2,000 kids at the school and many challenges to overcome. There will be widows to feed and many other activities. We’ll probably cut out one visit a year there, so that’s going to be a benefit to us. We’ve been going twice a year for a few years to encourage Worku and see how he’s doing.

Last Friday night I flew from Gondar to Addis Ababa and then on to Cairo. The plane got in at 1:30 a.m. so I crashed at a nearby hotel. Saturday I shifted across town to an apartment I’ve been based in since then. Sunday I spent with Nathan and Sawsan and preached at a couple of churches, part of the Holiness Movement. I’ve spent 4 days with them building relationships to explore the possibility of partnering. It’s great being with these local people, you get to go places, see things, hear things and eats things the tourist just never gets to do. I thought about this as we walked to the church on Sunday evening along dark little alleys.

Monday I spent with 3 of the key guys and we visited an area where some local people have started a new church and built an amazing building to worship in. Now they have to go through the hassles of registration, not an easy process.

My phone packed up so I had to buy a new one. It’s really important to have a phone in Egypt as there are a lot of things to organise. I probably needed a new one anyway.

Early Tuesday I caught the train to Asyut in Upper Egypt. It’s a city of about 500,000 people and the base for the Holiness Movement. It’s about 6 hours; a couple of guys travelled with me. Interesting to travel along the Nile and see life from that perspective. That night I spoke to a church of about 400 people. What a crazy time, such nice people, friendly and responsive. I am very impressed by the calibre of the church leaders. Then to bed at the YMCA after the traditional meal at 10:00 p.m. and the 1 hour drive back to town.

Wednesday I spoke for 90 minutes to the trainee pastors at their Bible College and then met with the Council to talk about a way forward. I think it was productive. Again, I’m initially assessing the type of people they are and their vision. Good people.

I was supposed to fly back to Cairo but they messed up the booking. So at 5:30 p.m., instead of facing a 30 minute flight on a plane, I was sitting on a train facing a 6 hour journey. No hassles, just more sitting, I’m logging up the sitting hours on this trip I tell you. Anyway, back to Cairo and into another taxi and across town and bed about 12:30. Stuffed.

Home in less than a week now, still plenty to do and see and really happy with what’s going on here.

Warm regards

Kevin and Helen.


some sort of record

2018-04-19 to 2018-04-24

Mmmm, seems like Thursday is the day for writing blogs! The last week went a bit like this.

The day after arriving back from Asyut on the train I met up with 4 friends from Scotland. They are part of a sister organisation, Shared Hope and were there to visit 2 of the partners they contribute to. We met up just after 9:00 at the vocational training centre. We spent a couple of hours meeting some of the trainees, hearing the plans and vision of the leaders and hanging out. It’s encouraging to hear that over 60% of those who complete their courses end up in employment, either working for someone or with their own little business. They left pretty encouraged and then I spent another couple of hours talking through the future of the partnership. So many opportunities training people and helping local Egyptian poor and incoming refugees.

The following day I met the Scottish team again and we headed south of Cairo to visit rubbish mountain. We spent a few hours with Samy and Phoebe and saw what they are doing among these desperate people. They visited the home of one of the women listening to her story. They were very quiet for a while after that visit.

I discovered a great little café called “Caffeine” about 20 minutes from where I was staying and managed to get in a few visits. Less the $1 for a very acceptable espresso.

Saturday I spent visiting around some very poor areas of Cairo where a church we partner with has a loan programme. It was good to see people so encouraged and happy because they were able to get help without aid. They showed off their businesses with great pride. And everywhere we visited we had other people asking if they could join the programme too. Awesome to hear their stories and what is does for them emotionally and spiritually. We had to have numerous drinks and quite a lot of lunches that day. Consequently, I didn’t need any dinner.

Sunday I grabbed a taxi and headed to the south of Cairo to Maadi and a couple more hours with Samy and Phoebe. We’ve been involved with them for 3 years now and it was time to review the progress and discuss the future. I’ll be recommending we continue here, they are so committed to serving this community and the changes are everywhere to be seen. That night I went to church and caught up with friends there.

Monday, a London cab picked me up at 6:00 a.m. and I began the journey home. 30 hours later and I was home. No hassles leaving. A bit of a tight connection in Istanbul and then I slept on leg to Singapore. 5 hours on the ground and then what seemed like a very long flight to Auckland. A bit late getting in so didn’t get home till almost 30 minutes after midnight on Anzac Day.

 I think I broke a record on this trip. 8 nights in the same bed. But I’m glad to be back to my own bed with a lot of follow up to do. I’m having a few days off to gather my wits and then it’s back into it. So nice to be back and able to catch up with Helen, family and friends. We are so blessed to have such great people around us.

Thanks for being with us. In 2 months we’re both off again. So, I’ll sign out until that one is about to start.

Much love,

Kevin and Helen.


Here we come Africa

2018-06-23

Eeeek, only 2 more sleeps until the next trip begins. The week before we leave always seems to disappear very quickly. At least this we’re only apart for 9 days. Thanks for being on this journey with us as we hit the air again. A quick outline and we’ll again keep you updated as we move along.

Monday Kevin heads off on Emirates Airlines from Auckland to Dubai and then on to Nairobi, Kenya. In Dubai he meets up with 2 guys from Chase Oaks Church, Plano, Texas. They are coming to interview and report on 3 partnerships they are involved in. So Kevin will spend 2 days in Nairobi and then a couple in Kisumu before heading over to Kampala in Uganda to visit another partner there.

Helen leaves on the 4th July and comes through Dubai to Entebbe, Uganda where we meet up. She’ll be travelling with 3 kiwi guys who are all part of our developing team of facilitators. we’ll introduce you to them as we go along. We have 6 days visiting partners mainly for the benefit of our team so they get exposure to our partners. Then we’re back to Kenya with the team for 3 days around Nairobi.

The team leaves on the 14th July and  then  we’re on our own. We head back to Kisumu to visit our other partners there. Then the plan is to head to Burundi, unfortunately a very troubled country. We have partners there and we’ll be exploring the development of more opportunities. It will be an interesting time and some nice coffee.

After Burundi it’s back through Nairobi to Pemba in northern Mozambique. We’ll have a few days with partners there before heading south to Angoche. A group of extremist Moslems akin to Boko Haram has formed in the area and is creating a lot of fear raiding villages and killing people. It’s a growing concern for the Christians in the area.

In Angoche we’ll be hanging out with our partners, getting to know a kiwi couple who have recently shifted into the project. There have been a few issues with the previous key leader causing a lot of grief so it’s time to go and re-establish relationships and forge a way forward.

Then it’s on to Maputo for a few days. We’ve been partnering there for a long time and the key people, Zambians, are making plans to retire back to Zambia. So we’ll again be looking at the future and imagining some pathways.

Then it’s back to New Zealand around the 13th August. So, a lot of people to see, talk to and encourage. There are 16 flights to turn up for and far too many kilometres of driving and road travel. But, we’re expecting this to be a great trip and especially look forward to seeing more of our team stepping into leadership roles.

Look forward to hearing from you too along the way and sharing a few yarns and photos,

Warm regards

Kevin and Helen


investing in life change

2018-06-25 to 2018-06-30

I’m writing from Entebbe, Uganda. Sometimes it’s easy to write, sometimes it’s hard. Today it’s hard. No reason really, just that the words aren’t flowing. I think too, when writing about places and people I’m so familiar with it’s kind of, well I’ve been here before. So the familiarity doesn’t help in a sense. And I’m tired, last night was the first time since leaving last Monday I had anything like a decent sleep. From experience I know it will improve, but it feels a bit like I’m walking around in mud.

There is very little nice to say about the travel. 17 hours on a plane is not a particularly positive experience. But, I survived it and after 4 hours on the ground in Dubai, another 5 hours to Nairobi. In Dubai met John and Ed from Chase Oaks Church, Texas and we’ve been hanging out since then.

The first day on the ground we spent in the Mathare Valley, Nairobi. The reason I’m travelling with John and Ed is to record and listen to stories about the partnerships they are sponsoring. So in the valley they interviewed students from the education programme and the Gap year programme. They were so encouraged by the change that is going on in people’s lives as a result of their investment in young people.

After 2 nights and one full day in Nairobi we flew out to Kisumu, a city on the shores of Lake Victoria. The Gap year I mentioned earlier is based here. We hired a car as the campus is about 45 minutes into the bush. We arrived in Kisumu, found a coffee and headed out to the campus. The 24 students and leaders were getting ready for the graduation that was happening the next day. John and Ed interviewed a bunch of these fresh graduands and again were very encouraged.

In both locations, while Ed and John were interviewing I was talking with the ministry leaders. They are such good people. But, they’re caught up in something much bigger than they ever imagined. A little Sunday School 20 years ago is now multiple churches, an NGO, hostels and more than 1,600 kids at school on any given day. I don’t know how they pull it off apart from the oft repeated phrase, “by the grace of God.” And may I add, by the generosity of God’s people from all over the world.

On Friday we headed back out to the campus and observed the joyful day of graduation. It was fun watching them complete their course. It’s been tough, like an army boot camp. Up at 5:00 a.m. farming, exercises, devotions and prayers all morning and then lectures and practical training in the afternoons. But, all 24 who began the course finished it and by now will all be back home ready to start their academic training. But, very different young people than those who came 6 months ago.

Saturday we flew to Nairobi, hours in the airport and then an hour flight across to Entebbe. And here we are, ready to get into another day. More travel and people to meet and then tomorrow to spend the day with partners on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Trust you’re all doing OK? only 4 sleeps until Helen gets here. Yeehaaa.

Much love

Kevin and Helen.


Vulnerable - very

2018-07-01 to 2018-07-05

I’m getting excited, Helen and the team arrives in Entebbe in a couple of hours. I have to say I’m looking forward to seeing Helen more than the team!! Ooops, that snuck out! (sound of Kevin slapping himself.

The team from the US has left and were back in time for 4th July celebrations. They were pretty encouraged by the time here. The team coming in with Helen are 3 kiwi lads that I’ll introduce you to next time. We’ve got a week with them here in Uganda and then 3 days in Kenya, introducing them to BHW and our amazing partners.

Two little stories from the last few days to highlight some of the issues. On this trip I was reading a local newspaper about Kenyan and Ugandan maids working in the United Arab Emirates. Some of the stories were horrific. Beaten, raped, starved, kept indoors for months, sleeping on the floor, only eating leftovers, suicides and….. some even murdered….. the stories went on. It reminded me of a friend working with maids in Lebanon and their plight. When they arrive their passports are taken from them and they have no access to them. Some have no means of communication for weeks or months at a time. Some end up in prison, accused of theft or whatever and there is no justice and usually no Embassy.

It all came home to me yesterday when one of our Kenya partners told me he was going to the funeral of his niece. Guess what, she was one of those murdered Kenyan maids I had been reading about. No justice, someone’s daughter. No one brought to justice, no end of grief for the family at home burying their daughter. Imagine.

On Monday last we walked into a village on the shores of Lake Victoria. We were visiting a school with 180 kids who otherwise would not go to school. We wanted to see where they live. I’ve include a few photos. It is truly appalling. The men are in a constant alcoholic daze and as we moved about many of them shouted and yelled, poking their faces into ours in drunken stupor and leery eyes.  They’re pretty harmless if you have the right attitude but it’s not very pleasant. One wonders how they survive out on the little boats in the vast lake every night eking out a living.

Of course, they can afford to drink themselves stupid, but they won’t pay for their kids to go to school or buy safe water from the community well.

We walked around the corner of a ramshackle building to meet a mum who is a believer and who has 3 kids at school. Her husband is one of the drunkards. We met her beautiful older daughter who has completed school but now has nothing to do and one wonders what she will end up doing.

And then there was sweet little Shanita. She lay naked in the dirt staring at us with pitiful but enquiring eyes. 5 years old and unable to walk, legs contorted together, small for her age. Say her name and her eyes light up and she grunts, greet her and she says “I’m fine.” But she isn’t. She never will be apart from a miracle. And we prayed, and God heard and she’s probably today still in the dirt. Were we there to meet her so we could be the channel of a miracle? Probably, but, what does that look like?

Much love

Kevin and Helen


A team, exploring opportunities

2018-07-06 to 2018-07-15

Ooops, more than a week has gone. Helen arrived OK and is already sick of me!! Na, just joking. Its great to be together again! Last blog I said I would introduce the NZ guys to you and they’ve gone already! The main purpose of the last 10 days has been to orientate them as potential Field Facilitators by introducing them to some of our partners and hanging out in the field. It’s by far the best way to help them understand the issues they would face in the role and to observe how they respond to people. 

Tim D - (1st Timothy) is from Christchurch. He and his wife are long term donors to Bright Hope World (BHW.) Their kids are in their 20s and they are looking at options for the next season of life. He’s a really nice guy and we all laughed at his dad jokes.

Tim W – (2nd Timothy) is from Nelson. He and his wife have been involved in South America with BHW and is looking for other opportunities as BHW lessens activity in South America. He asks great questions we really like his empathy and concern for people.

Dave O is a doctor and he’s looking to become involved as well. His parents are already on our team and he’s looking at the possibility of becoming involved with them in Uganda.  He connected well with our partners.

Fiona S joined us for a few days in Uganda. She's travelling around there having trained in Foundations for Farming. She's exploring ops too for the future, she's in Rwanda right now. 

It’s been great travelling together. Helen has been trying to keep them in order. The best thing is that they all laugh at my dad jokes. Seriously good to have these young guys along and can’t wait for them to flourish in their roles. We have about 15 countries in which there is a need for someone to pick up roles.

While here we’ve visited 4 existing partners in Uganda and 4 potential partners. These partners face a wide range of poverty issues, widows with micro-loans, education for rural kids, empowering women and people with HIV / AIDS, providing sanitary pads for young women in school and the list goes on.

For a number of years, I have been trying to get into Congo D R as there are about 7 or 8 potential partners there. One of the people we met in Uganda is Congolese and he is willing to travel with me to those places. After talking with him I’m making plans to get there next year.

We also met a lovely couple in Mukono. He is from Nuba and she is a Texan. They’re based in Uganda while he studies but next year they plan to return to Nuba. It’s a war zone, suffering from constant attacks and bombing from the Sudanese government. A plan is developing to head that way next year. Have a look at the situation there, check out Nuba reports on Google.

On Thursday we came to Kenya and have visited 4 existing partners. One of these partners is working in a terrible slum area that was a bit of an eye opener for our guys. It’s very different to anything we saw in Uganda. Urban poverty is “in-your-face,” brutal and confronting, harsh and putrid. But in the midst of the horrible situation, great people are transforming lives. It was good to hear some of the stories. So inspiring.

Saturday we managed to spend some time in the Nairobi Game Park and saw a few animals, I’ve put a couple of photos up for you to see. We also visited a baby elephant orphanage, such cute little guys. Last night the guys flew out and right now will be in air, winging home to their loved ones.

Today, Helen and I have a day off, sort of, and later in the day fly to Kisumu in the West of Kenya where we’ll visit a number of partners. We’ll report on that next time. Hopefully the pace will slow up a little as we’re by ourselves.

Thanks for being there with us and praying, it’s so cool. We love hearing from you and what you’re up to.

Much love from Kenya, check out the photos

Kevin and Helen


There's a hippo in my garden!

2018-07-16 to 2018-07-20

Today the next phase of our journey begins. Until now we’ve been in Kenya and Uganda, today we move on to Burundi. Since last blog we’ve been in Kisumu visiting partners. In most cases these partnerships will be handed over now to our Kenyan facilitators.

On Monday Kevin went about 90 minutes south of Kisumu with Bob. Bob has a chicken project producing eggs for sale. It’s been a tough few months for them. The chickens were laying really well but there have been very heavy rains this year and this put a dampener on the laying. Then there were riots along the main roads so they couldn’t get good feed from the city and had to buy at the local market; the hens stopped laying. You know, it’s these peripheral issues that make these sorts of projects fail or never quite make it. These countries are so unstable that within a day, everything changes. So much is out of the control of the little guys, the poor guys, the vulnerable. Hopefully, within a week or two the laying will recommence and the people being supported by the project will again benefit.

In the meantime, Bob continues with the training in establishing small house churches, there are 100s of them around the area now. he reckons more than 500. He’s a great guy, we’ve known him for almost 20 years.

Tuesday we hired a car to travel 4 hours south to visit another partner but not before Helen had an accident spilling boing water on her left foot. It was very sore and for a couple of days we, and a lot of other people were praying it wouldn’t affect out travel. Thankfully, after a couple of days of mild pain it’s OK. Thanks to God and to those who prayed.

We spent a night in the town of Rongo and there met Robert our partner. We visited the school with 200 kids, mainly street kids; we watched women’s group play football, they have 2 teams; we met the women who make soap to sell. They make liquid soap, bar soap and are about to begin making body lotion. These women are from the streets, most are widows or solo mums and their lives are stories of abuse, rape, street living, prostitution and now restoration, life and transformation. There are more than 60 in the group now.

Friday we came back to Kisumu and Robert came with us. He caught the bus to Kigali in Rwanda where his wife and 2 kids live. She’s a teacher there and as Robert has no house in which to live, and because she gets a good salary as a school teacher in an International School, this is their arrangement for now.

Yesterday we drove out to visit another partner a couple of hours to the south-west. Grace has set up farmers groups in the area and we visited 5 of the groups. We were right on the shores of Lake Victoria. One of the biggest issues they face is the hippos who can destroy a whole crop in a few minutes. It’s been a tough year for growing tomatoes because of the rain but they have great crops of maize. They are happy because there is food in the house for the next year. We heard story after story of change. One guy proudly told us that he is now able to send his 3 kids to school. Another that one child had finished University and another has just started. Totally impossible before this project began. One of the next plans is to begin children’s programmes on weekends and school holidays and eventually a church will be developed.

So, we leave here feeing like there is good stuff happening and out partners are in good heart. Change is going on incrementally, negative mind sets are being confronted and people are developing. That’s what it’s about. Holistic change, breaking the cycles of thinking and the lies they belive that that produce poverty.

Next time, Burundi.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Supernatural

2018-07-21 to 2018-07-25

I was hoping to be in touch while in Burundi. But, it didn’t happen. Burundi people are so nice, warm, welcoming but not an easy place to live. Enough said. Good coffee though!

While there, we did get some stuff done. We spent a day talking about the potential for ongoing partnership. It’s tough for them with a lot of compliance and things they can’t do. I’m hoping something will emerge from the discussions, it will require some innovation. Their daughter has just finished studying for her Masters at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is setting up an NGO to help young people develop.

Sunday was a bit of a mission, 6 hours driving to and from church an 4 hours in the meeting! Oh my goodness. It was a bit of a mission. Helen wasn't feeling well and didn't come, she must have had an inkling about it! However, almost 100 people came forward for counselling and prayer. God was at work. 

We spent a morning with a team of other friends who work in the D R Congo. They told us stories of how they are training churches to development and we heard about great growth in the midst of the issues they face in that country. It’s a desperate country, but the people are so vibrant and full of life. I’m looking forward to spending an amount of time in the Congo next year and plans are forming.

Tuesday we spent the day in airports and aeroplanes. We flew a.m. from Bujumbura to Nairobi and waited there for a bit before flying to Pemba in Mozambique. I reckon this country is in the wrong time zone. It’s winter here and the sun comes up at 5 a.m. and goes back down at 5 p.m. so you miss most of the daylight!

We spent the day yesterday with Chrissy an Suzen Lukanga. They are Zambians living as missionaries in Mozambique. We’ve known them since the mid 80s when they came to GLO Zambia which we were running at the time. So cool to see them developing young people and sending them out, much the way we did to them all those years ago. I came away encouraged. Their house is like a railway station with people coming and going all day and night.

They live in a Muslim community and have many friends there. It has taken 10 years for them to be accepted and to see the lights going on in the lives of vulnerable and desperate people. They hope to soon have citizenship there which will give them more opportunity. They are doing the hard yards of loving and discipling a community, my goodness it’s tough, relentless and requires resilience and tenacity few people I know could muster up. In fact, you couldn’t muster it from a human perspective, it’s a God thing.

And as I think about our partners, it’s the same for most of them. They choose to live and serve in the most difficult places amongst the most difficult people and it’s a God thing. Supernatural. And many of the stories we heard yesterday are stories of just that. Unexplainable things that happen to desperate people and there is no other explanation apart from – God.

Yep, it’s all about him, that’s for sure.

Tomorrow were heading south, further into Mozambique. More from there.

Much love

Kevin and Helen.


Turning on the light

2018-07-26 to 2018-07-31

We had a great time with Chrissy and Suzen in Pemba, Mozambique. It’s great to see the investment we made in them back in the 80s now bearing fruit in another country. Who would have thought that could happen! It’s a privilege to work with these highly motivated people from Zambia.

After 3 nights and 2 full days we flew out of Pemba for the 40 minute flight to Nampula. Well at least that was the plan when we booked the tickets. We got a note a couple of days before flying that the flight had been cancelled. So instead of a 40 minute flight, we flew 2 ½ hours south to Maputo, waited on the ground for nearly 4 hours and then a 2 hour 15 minute flight north again to Nampula. Our friends were there to meet us so we got a lift to the hotel and then down the road to a great restaurant. It was good food and nice to kick back for a couple of hours.

Then Saturday we drove from Nampula out to Angoche. It used to be a thriving town with huge cashew nut factories and farms. Some of the old buildings are well built and stylish. But now, abandoned and ramshackle. On the way we stopped for a couple of hours to meet a group of farmers who have been trained by our Bright Hope Ag guys. They were very keep to have more input and hopefully we’ll be able to do that.

Since getting to Angoche we’ve been in a number of meetings with leaders about the future, visited little tutoring classes (madrassas) teaching more than 2,000 kids to read their own language and meeting a little group of Christ followers out on the beach at Praia Nova, sitting in the sand. This work is about seeing the faith come to Muslims and thousands of people are hearing the Good News. It’s pretty amazing the transformation. Most of it is related to the major events in the lives of people.

That’s where culture often clashes with Christian values; birth, death, marriage and initiative rites for boys and girls. There are some very strange things happen and the outcomes are pretty severe for those involved. In most Muslim families, after the initiation rites for girls they are expected to make money for the family by prostitution. Imagine, 11, 12 and 13 year olds out on the streets and what it does to them? I could go on but I won’t, I would probably say something that may offend some people.

Suffice to say, there are thousands of babies born here with no father and children are bringing up children. Without the light, what do you expect…. darkness, death, disease and poverty.

One evening we wandered around the shoreline as the fishing boats came in; we’re right on the ocean here. Fascinating to see all the bounty coming in. Most of it would be undersize in New Zealand and most of the nets would be far from legal. It’s a happening place though, I love fish markets, there are a lot of characters in those places; everyone’s a hustler!

We met a lovely couple living here in this very remote part of Mozambique. Tim is from the UK via Australia and Sarah is a kiwi by way of Australia. They are here with their 2 little girls Grace and Abby. We had so much fun with them, so cool to see them out, serving God, doing the hard yards. Took us back almost 40 years. Wow, I can’t believe it was so long ago we first came to Africa.

Tomorrow 5:30 a.m. we hit the road, 4 ½ hours to Nampula and then a flight to Maputo. 3 nights there but that’s the next chapter.

A literally warm and muggy greeting from Angoche,

Kevin and Helen


Silent Revolution

2018-08-01 to 2018-08-04

We’ve been coming to Maputo, Mozambique for quite a few years. My word the city has changed. The latest big development is the Chinese Bridge, it’s massive, amazing, they say the largest bridge in Africa. It’s another sign that Africa is well down the road to being colonised again. All over Africa thousands of Chinese engineers and prospectors are toiling in the heat. Building bridges, roads, dams, stadia, refurbishing abandoned buildings and business left by the first colonisers and most importantly, building influence. On some international flights into Africa there are hardly any locals.

In the meantime Islam spreads down the continent from the north and East. Mosques are being built where there are few people, yet! Madrassas are teaching radical Islam, people are going to Sudan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to learn the way. Businesses are being developed and Christians are paid to become Muslim workers. New radical groups from Nigeria to Mozambique are butchering and rape converting Christians and their women.

We’ve seen and heard  many stories about these things on this this visit to Africa. Now before you throw up your hands and accuse me of hate speech, we do need a dose of reality.

But here’s the story we want to tell. Patrick and Grace are long term friends from when we lived in Zambia back in the 80s. almost 25 years ago they left Zambia and found themselves in Mozambique as missionaries. As we hung out with them for a few days we heard many stories of the hardships they have faced and the amazing miracles they have experienced in their work and also in their personal lives. the big story out here is the huge number of quality young people they are producing. I don’t think I have met such a group of talented, passionate Christ followers anywhere for many years. They are ordinary people, doing ordinary jobs from abused and traumatised backgrounds, kids out of the most poverty stricken backgrounds you could imagine. They are moving in their jobs to all parts of Mozambique and around them, stuff happens. God stuff happens.

And back in Angoche thousands of people are choosing to follow the prophet Issa (Jesus,) no one is forcing them to do it.

And in Pemba a whole community is being transformed by partners who are doing the hard yards of living amongst the followers of another prophet and no one can argue against the complete transformation that is festering away.

So, even though the political and religious forces from outside are growing in influence, deep down the silent work of the Spirit continues. It will never make the headlines. But it is going deep into the hearts and minds of the next generations.

We’ve often been asked often to write a book about what we do. If we ever did it would not be about us, it would be about the people we spend time with and the impact their lives are having at the grassroots level of dark communities.

We’re flying out of Africa today a little stunned by the things we have experienced more convinced than ever that true partnership with local people who have a compelling vision to transform their communities and empower the poor and vulnerable is the best way forward.

You won’t hear from us for about a week. We’re sneaking off for a break on the way home. When we get home we’ll put up a few photos and you’ll have to guess where we’ve been?

Much love

Kevin and Helen


The Quiz

2018-08-05 to 2018-08-10

Hey there, we’re coming to the end of our break. I’ve put up a few photos for you to guess where we are. It’s a bit of an out of the way place. It's a little like India, a little like Thailand and a little like Indonesia.

I was thinking of giving a prize for the 1st one to guess the correct answer. But, seeing our readers are from all over the world, it could get expensive. So let’s forget that idea. Anyway, one thing we’ve decided, we’re not great tourists. We hate spending money to see things. We don’t like visiting temples and sitting around making inane conversation is pointless. But, we do like eating local food, there is some not very nice local food in some places. But the seafood in this place is pretty good. 

We’ve enjoyed our break. Seen things we’ve not seen before. Climbed some pretty high rocks. But we’re keen to get home. Kevin’s mum had an operation today and is in hospital for a couple of nights so it will be nice to get back to be with her.

We’ve really only got about 6 weeks back in NZ before we head off again, so it’s a pretty short turn around and there is quite a bit to do in preparation.

Highlights on this trip have been:

1) hanging out with John Stanley and Ed Clarke from Chase Oaks Church as we checked out the partnerships they support.

2) visiting partners in Kenya and Uganda with Helen and 3 potential facilitators from New Zealand and seeing our partners through their eyes.

3) seeing the growth and development in our partners as we moved around

4) finding some new opportunities in Sudan and the D R Congo and making plans to visit these countries next year.

5) developing a wonderful existing partnership in Burundi and exploring new opportunities with them

6) seeing real consolidation in the work in all 3 of our Mozambique partners. There is such good stuff happening in all of them, especially the next generations of leaders that are emerging.

7) and here we are, back at the break at the end of the journey. Where you ask? That’s up to you to find out. Enjoy the photos?

We’ll see you again when we sign in for the next trip in a few weeks.

Love, warm regards and thanks for being there with us.

Kevin and Helen.


about to go again

2018-09-28

We cannot believe it’s 6 weeks since we arrived home from the last trip.  The time has whizzed by. We’ve spent time with family, run afoul of a mystery virus, spoken at a couple of churches, written a bunch of reports attended Coco’s (our granddaughter) 5th birthday party, spent time with our family and generally tried to get ready for the next trip. And now, 3 sleeps to go!

We head off on Monday and meet 2 kiwi friends in Nairobi. We have almost 4 weeks with them in Kenya, Uganda, Egypt and Ethiopia. We’ll be visiting partners and potential partners and seeing a few things along the way. We also meet a team from the US in Ethiopia as we check out the situation there. I rang Worku today and he now has 1,750 students in school! That guy is amazing!!

After our kiwi friends leave us we have more than a week in Madagascar visiting way down in the south where our partners have a project. It’s the first time to the south for us so it will be interesting to compare it with other rural places we visit.

Then it’s on to Italy to visit a partner in Rome and we’ll stop for a few days to have a look around. Then it’s on to Dallas in Texas, USA. We’ll be there the week before Thanksgiving. We’re having a 10 - year celebration of the partnership between Chase Oaks Church, Bright Hope World and the development of the partnership in Ethiopia. It’s the end of that partnership in terms of funding, the school is now generating enough income to support all the other work they are doing in Ethiopia. So, Worku will be coming across to the celebration and some of our Bright Hope team will be there too.

While there we’ll be developing the next stage of Bright Hope World and Chase Oaks Church partnership.

Check out the map if you want. You’ll find that the blog site has been renovated in the last few months. Strap yourself in, we’re about to take off.

Trust that you enjoy the ride and are blessed and encouraged as you journey with us.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


economic empowerment

2018-10-01 to 2018-10-07

From Kagadi in rural Uganda we send you our love. It’s a week since we left and it’s been pretty full on. We flew to Kenya through Perth, Australia and had an 11 hour layover. Not a good idea. Then across to Johannesburg, and a 4 hour layover. We slept on that flight and then were able to get into the lounge. Then 4 hours to Nairobi. No hassles there, got out bags and crossed to a different terminal to meet our friends Graham and Cherie Wallace, we were only there 2 minutes and they came out. amazing, they had flown from Auckland to Nairobi via Dubai.

Since then we had a day with our partners in Mathare Valley Nairobi and came away really encouraged. Some of the people that have come into leadership are outstanding and slowly they are emerging from a number of years of real struggle to maintain their vision.

The following day was a bit quieter, and we needed it. we visited an elephant orphanage and giraffe centre and Graham was in his element. Actually, they are both pretty cool and cute. That evening we flew to Entebbe in Uganda. No hassles there either, arrived on time, quickly through Immigration, changed some money, bought a sim card and headed off to sleep, by this time it was 10:30 and not over jetlag.

The last two days have seen us driving out West Uganda and we’ve visited two locations where our partners have economic empowerment projects with Congolese refugees. We picked up Reuben and Justus and visited a church in Kyaka 2 refugee camp. Many, many new refugees are coming into Uganda from the Congo. It’s putting strain on already strained resources.

We heard some great stories about how the loans have helped people. We also heard some of the challenges. Some people, when they get the loan money just run away with it. We’ve had to work with our partners to help them become better at training and equipping these people. We’re going to have to come back next year and so some training here.

Another issue they face is their key people keep leaving for the USA and Europe as refugees. Often it’s the brightest that get to go, it’s very debilitating and makes some projects quite vulnerable.

Yesterday another group based around 3 churches. There are some similar issues to sort out, but they will get there. They are determined and resourceful and in both cases, even though it’s not been a perfect start, the funds are still there. Just not quite as good as it could have been.

We head off today for a couple of days in the Murchison Falls Game Park. That should be fun. In this area of Uganda vast quantities of oil have been discovered. It’s been bought by the Chinese and they are building huge service roads from the West of Uganda, south to Tanzania and then across to the coast. It must be a thousand kilometres are least. Then comes the pipeline. One hopes the locals get to benefit from this. One wonders it that’s a realistic thought. History tells us another story.

We’re keeping well and enjoying team life with friends,

Much love from us

Kevin and Helen.


Empty tombs

2018-10-08 to 2018-10-14

It’s hot on the banks of the Nile in Luxor. We’re having a 3 day break since we’re in the vicinity of one of the ancient wonders of the world. It’s an amazing place in terms of old stuff, big stuff. The Karnak Temple, they say it’s the largest religious hall in the world, larger that the Vatican and St Paul’s combined. The 136 huge pillars are quite close together and it’s hard to get a feel for it’s real size. Then the Valley of the Kings, tomb after tomb of powerful, rich people reduced to dust. The recording of their lives and achievements is staggering on massive walls.

We’ve had a lovely Christian woman as a guide. Sahar shared a lot of the back stories about “why this” and “why that.” The myths are legendary, the futility of thought and desperation to live forever is palpable more than 2,000 years later.

I came away more than ever with a thankful heart that our future does not rely on our efforts, fame or fortune but on the death and resurrection of Jesus. We saw lots of tombs emptied by grave robbers but last night we remembered an altogether different empty tomb and gave thanks.

Since last blog we’ve been doing a bit of tourism which is a bit of a new thing for us. We had a couple of days in the Murchison Falls Game Park in Uganda and were blown away by the beauty of the African bush and savannah. We saw heaps of animals, see a few in the photos. We then went to Jinja to meet our partners there. We were at the source of the Nile and now we’re at the other end of it, almost.

Early Friday morning we flew to Egypt and spent the day with our friends in Rubbish City. It was lovely to be able to introduce out friends Graham and Cherie to Samy and Phoebe and then got to Phoebe’s dad’s place for an amazing lunch. What wonderful people.

Later today we head back to Cairo to meet our partners and check out the pyramids as well.

Our youngest grandchild, Coco started school today. We miss not being around for those important milestones. But we’ve been able to see her and talk to her so that was fun. Wow, life moves quickly.

The blog site has changed a bit and there are some old features not available now. We’re trying to sort it out. Hopefully we’ll get the hang of it as we understand it better. Thanks for your part in in our lives.

Much love,

Kevin and Helen


Ancient kingdoms and churches

2018-10-15 to 2018-10-24

Tomorrow we head off to Madagascar for 8 days. But, since last blog, a lot has happened. I’m sorry it’s been a while. Last blog we were in Luxor, Egypt for a couple of days. After that it was Cairo again. While there we spent a day with our partners Nathan and Sawsan. They run a number of different projects mainly focussed on empowering vulnerable people. We spent time with them at the vocational training centre. It’s very encouraging to see the work developing with many people a year being equipped to live better lives. We’ve started another dialogue with Sawsan about another group of people she wants to do more with.

We also met with a group of church leaders with whom we are about to commence a new partnership. It’s a loan programme to vulnerable Christian people, mainly in rural Egypt. The team is very excited and we were encouraged by the calibre of people involved in leading it. We were able to hang out with Nathan and Sawsan and their family for a while at their home, they are such good people.

Then we had a day visiting the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx, the Egypt Museum and then Cave churches at Mokattam mountain. This is a monastery of the Coptic Church with an auditorium that seats 20,000 people. There are some spectacular carvings in the rocks done by a Polish priest. It’s a really interesting place, I’ve included some pictures. On the way out our van was hit a glancing blow by a truck that smashed the back side window and gave us a fright.

Then it was a 2:00 a.m. flight to Ethiopia. We had a day in Addis Ababa where the team rested and I met with a potential partner. Lovely man I’ve known for a while but it now seems like there are some things we can do together.

That evening a team of 3 flew in from Chase Oaks Church in Texas and the next morning, Friday, we flew up to Gonder. In a few weeks we will be at that church on the way home for a celebration of 10 years of partnership in Ethiopia. Over the next 3 days we visited the school which I’ve talked about before – it now has 1,750 students, the Chase Oaks people had meeting with the key teachers and leaders – to see how they can continue supporting the school, we visited the senior care centres and Worku Tafete’s parents.

We also had a day trip to the Simien mountains, a most beautiful part of the world. The Gelada baboons are a real treat to spend time with, so funny. On Monday morning the US team left us and together with Graham and Cherie we spent two days in Lalibela looking at the cave and rock carved churches. It’s a very unique part of the world with an ancient form of Christianity. These churches are 800 – 900 years old and still in operation. Very different to our style of worship but obviously very meaningful to the faithful.

And now, we’re back in Addis Ababa, the team has left for the USA and a few hours ago Graham and Cherie started their trek back to NZ. It’s quiet, no one to play cards with and share experiences. We’re very tired and I’m not feeling that well so hopefully it will pass.

We’re missing home too. In the last few weeks our youngest grandchild, Coco, started school and our oldest, Hugo turned 10. It’s missing these milestones that is the hardest thing. But, anything of value has cost associated with it. We see this modelled every day out here. Worku has chosen not to get married up until now for the sake of the vision God has given him. We’ve met people and partners who have truly given it all for the cause of the Good News about Jesus. And we are inspired again.

So dear friends, I’m hoping I’ll not be quiet for so long next time.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Larhiarivo and Velona

2018-10-25 to 2018-10-31

We’ve been in Madagascar for a few days, most of it way down in the south around the town of Ambovombe. We overnighted in Antananarivo (Tana) and then flew south to Taolagnaro in the south-east corner of the country. Our partner Hanitra was waiting for us even though we were 2 hours late getting there. Then it was 4 hours across the bottom of the country on terrible roads, 100 kms in 4 hours.

Anyway, we spent 3 days with the team there, all women. We visited some of the villages they are working in and to be frank, were shocked by what we found. Kids by the truck load, no water apart from ground water, arid, bleak and hostile. The people are desperately trapped in cultural practices that see them becoming poorer generation after generation, that sees women abused and abandoned and kids uneducated and girls married as teenagers to old men. In some places girls are traded along with the cattle! Let me tell you about one couple we met:

Larhiarivo is very different to everyone else in the community of over 1,000 people. He has only one wife, Velona. And, they say quite openly, they love each other and it’s going to stay that way. They have 5 children of their own and another 7 from T’s brother who died. That’s 14 people in the house, and the whole house if smaller than my bedroom!

But that’s not the end of the story. In 1989 his parents moved to the current location, they had some animals and the land was OK. The rains came at the same time every year and life was good. But, in 2010 the drought came and since then the rains have been very inconsistent, this last season was a bad one and they are now suffering. They scavenge for food and drink ground water to survive. Yesterday their only meal was a meagre amount of rice and the fruit of a cactus which thrives in this arid landscape.

But that’s not all. About the time that they were married, Larhiarivo’s parents died, 16 or 17 years ago. Hosting the funeral cost them everything. All their animals and anything that could be sold went to pay for the funeral, nothing left. So, Larhiarivo could not pay the dowry for his wife, one cow, $US200.

Since that time they have become followers of Jesus and lead a cell group in their village. 9 people have come to faith. Of their 5 children, the eldest 2 are girls, the eldest is 15. They get no help from anyone to care for all the 7 kids in the home. Now, because he didn’t pay the dowry, his in-laws are demanding a cow for each of the 2 oldest girls and they cannot pay. The in-laws have received payment of a cow from another man wanting to  marry their 15 year old grand-daughter and they are demanding to take the girl as because that the way it goes in that culture. She’ll be the 2nd, 3rd or 4th wife of some dirty old man.

So what should Larhiarivo and Velona do as new believers standing against what’s evil in their culture. Do they belong to that culture anymore! Here’s the thing, one or two people becoming believers and who now have a distinctly different world view from their collective culture have few options. The pressure from that culture will either drive them out or they will lose their daughter.

What would you do?

What would you tell them to do?

Young girls in the south are still bought a sold here at the cattle market. If someone buys one and doesn’t like her he takes her back and resells her. Men with multiple wives will be producing 2 or 3 children a year with no obligation to care or provide for them, that’s the wife’s role.

We’ve got a lot to think about now so I’m switching off. Going for a break. Checking out Lemurs, that’s a much easier thing to deal with!

Catch you

Thanks for praying

Kevin and Helen

p.s. people are hving problems writing comments since Get jealous changed. if you want to leave a comment please do it on facebook or Messenger until we can get it sorted? thanks


A break on the journey

2018-10-31 to 2018-11-13

Hey there, sorry about the delay since last blog. We’ve been having a bit of a break. We had 3 nights in Madagascar looking for lemurs and found a few. Funny little guys and a lot of fun checking them out. 

Then, for a week in Italy. On this trip we had partners to visit in Africa as you will have seen from previous blogs. But, we have to attend a celebration in Dallas the week before Thanksgiving and decided to take a break on the way. Now that we’re getting a little long in the tooth, we can’t do the long trips as quickly as we used to. We travel a bit slower hoping it will extend our availability for a few more years.

The celebration is for a very successful partnership in Ethiopia for 10 years. Chase Oaks Church in Plano, Texas has been involved with us there and now the project is now self-sustaining. The main project has been to build a school that will generate income to assist with the pain purpose, to see the Good News about Jesus spread out wider into communities and to assist vulnerable people to gain some kind of meaningful future.

The school has grown to 1,750 kids and from this coming year will support the work that has in the past been supported by the church in the USA. This is an outstanding achievement and frankly, on this scale rarely happens anywhere. It’s a testimony to the tenacity and vision of our partner, Worku Tafete and the generosity of the church. Amazing.

Italy has been interesting. Since being here we have been in Sicily and Rome. A few highlights include:

Right now we’re staying with a missionary couple from the USA. We have been involved with some funding for a refugee centre they are establishing. It’s been nice to hang out with them, they are very kind and generous. We’re off to an English teaching class in a few minutes.

Of course, it’s hard not to be confronted by the refugee crisis that exists in this country. I’m not sure there is a very bright future for the country and for many of the refugees who live here and who are trying to leave. A new government here is making noises that are causing many migrants to become fearful, again.

Tomorrow we head off to the USA and are homeward bound. Just over a week, in many ways, it can’t come quickly enough. I’ve put up a few photos of our time in Italy.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Dallas and coming home

2018-11-13 to 2018-11-20

Hey friends. This last week has seen us travelling to Dallas from Rome to spend time with a donor church. Chase Oaks Church in Plano is a great bunch of people with a strong passion to be involved in what God is doing in the world. It’s been a great few days. We got into Dallas around midnight Wednesday, that was a long day! Thursday we went back to the airport and picked up our Ethiopian partner Worku Tafete, came back to the church office and met some of the team and settled in to Jeff and Christy’s place. They have been such wonderful hosts. Jeff is the senior pastor of Chase Oaks Church and such an encourager.

Friday saw us getting ready for the first service of the weekend that night. Worku and I were involved in the programme. Rob and Fraser from the Bright Hope World team arrived too so it was a full team. The service went well, between 4 – 500 people on Friday evening.

Saturday morning - we met with the church leaders to work out a plan for the future. Chase Oaks church has been partnering with us in Ethiopia for 10 years and it was a celebration of that. The project is self-sustaining now, so cool to be able to release it to flourish on it’s own feet and to begin the journey to other places with them.

Saturday afternoon we headed over to Fort Worth and got involved in a cattle drive with Texas longhorns and a gunfight which we barely survived!! It was fun to hang out with our friends in the stockyards! We met up with Lane and Miranda Davis. Lane spent 9 months working and travelling with us way back in 2010. He’s now a State Trooper in Texas. It was great to catch up, they have an ongoing interest in BHW so it’s great to meet people like them and hang out.

Sunday saw us heading off to church at 7:30 a.m. We grabbed a coffee on the way and prepared for the 2 services, one at 9:15 and the second at 11:15. They went well I think, talked to a lot of people and the local team was pretty hyped from what we shared. There were over a thousand at each of these services and another 1,500 at other campuses. After church we headed off to lunch with the team and then home for a bit of relaxation.

Monday we headed off across town to meet with a Chase Oaks person who has a client doing a bunch of stuff in Uganda and we did a video conference with them. Then we took Worku out to the airport. He headed off to Orlando to visit family – Thursday he flies to New Zealand for a few weeks. We then visited another Chase Oaker who had been to Uganda on an earlier trip. They are leaders in the church and generous donors, it’s always nice to connect with people like that. Then, home and a 20 minute walk up the street to a Greek restaurant.

We hung out a lot with John Stanley, the global outreach pastor of the church and such a good friend. Nothing is too much trouble for John. I can’t speak highly enough about him and the way he serves so well. We meet such good people at each end of partnership relationships and are truly blessed.

In a few minutes we leave Dallas and head home. On the way to the out we’re calling past the Chase Oaks office and do a podcast and then it’s on to the plane. We’ve got 2 flights, one from Dallas to Los Angeles and then on Air New Zealand back to Auckland. Yeeeehaaaaa ya’all. A bit of Texan bursting forth!! We get home early on Thursday morning. Can’t wait to see family and friends again.

There’s a lot to think about, a lot to process with many new things coming into the picture. But it’s great and so many people are being helped through our partners. We sometimes sit and smile as we think about how much impact is being made. Tens of thousands of people with hope now. It’s so very cool and we just want to say thank you to you all who make this possible and to God who has given us such great opportunities to make a difference.

Thanks for being with us on this journey, we so appreciate it

Helen and Kevin


Off again - in Dubai

2019-03-09

OK, this blog is very late, so late that I’ve already left NZ for the next trip. I’ll do a summary of our intentions for the year and little about this trip and in a few days, a little more with photos!

We’re planning 3 trips in 2019, less time away but probably made up for it by tough places. The first is based around taking potential facilitators to 3 tough places, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia.

The second will see Kevin away for almost 5 weeks in Egypt, D. R. Congo and Burundi. We have many potential partners to visit in the DRC and that’s where we’ll spend most of the time.

Then the 3rd trip is based around a month in India, a brief swing through the Middle East finishing at a conference in Turkey late October.

This trip sees me away for 4 weeks. First it’s 4 days in Tanzania looking over a large, rural water bore hole project. There’s quite a lot of risk involved but it’s time to make the final call, yes or no.

Then it’s back to Dubai where I meet a kiwi friend and we head off to Afghanistan for 3 days. Michael and his wide Carolyn are with us on this trip and we’re discussing their role as potential facilitators for these countries. Again, it’s checking out a new partner there and to see what they are doing. And if we think we should get involved. We’ll be in Kabul and then in Mazar I Sharif.

Next week Helen flies out with her friend Carolyn and they have a couple of nights in Dubai before Mike and I arrive back there. We have a night in Dubai and then it’s off to Pakistan. 3 days in Lahore 3 in Faisalabad and 4 in Islamabad. There’s a lot to see there and lots of decisions to make.  

Then back to Dubai and on to 2 different locations in Indonesia, we’ll have a week there with an existing partner and a potential one. S

So friends, we so value your partnership in this visiting we do. Sometimes it sounds like we’re just talking about a lot of travel. But the travel isn’t what it’s all about, it’s the means to an end. The visits to engage with motivated change agents is what it’s all about and we can’t wait to hang out with them, hear their stories and meet some of the people they are empowering.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Time is our friend

2019-03-10 to 2019-03-12

You know, it’s sometimes really hard to know what to do next. I’ve been I Tanzania for 3 days and am in the airport about to head off to Dubai. Tomorrow I’ll meet up with Michael Hanson and our Afghanistan partners and head into Kabul.

The purpose of coming here was to give the final word about developing a water borehole in a remote Tanzanian village. The people are desperate for water. “We don’t want wealth or money, we just want water.”

As we walked around the village for a couple of hours I saw a woman washing clothes. Mmm I thought, I wonder how she got the water? So we chatted for a few moments as she shyly continued to scrub the clothes. The water looked quite clean, not like the place where they normally get their water. So, there are 15 people in here house and just yesterday she had got 20 litres. It cost her 900 Tanzanian shillings, that’s about 40 cents US. She bought it from someone who got it from a stream some distance away. “How long would it take you to fetch it yourself?” “3 hours each way.” I asked “and how long will the 20 litres last?” “If I’m careful, maybe 5 days.” 15 people, 20 litres, 5 days, you do the maths?

I was in the village with 4 others, our partner from Kenya who introduced us to this village, two local guys who are Christ followers now, but born as followers of a very different prophet and a retired man who develops water projects and runs an NGO. So we talked and walked and it seemed like it was all coming together. Then we drove back to Dar es Salaam with the intention of progressing the project with the man with the NGO. I wrote it up and tried to sleep, but sleep would not oblige. I tossed and turned and finally, at 3:17 precisely, I got up. I then pottered around, prayed, read and wrote and hoped I would nod off. Impossible.

I got a phone call from Robert about 10 a.m. and the line dropped. 5 minutes later he’s knocking on my door. “We have a slight problem.” The leaders of the village will not allow that man into the village, the water guy. Now that’s gonna be a problem. We have to have someone there we can trust while the drillers are at work. “They say he’s a witchdoctor and will curse the project.” I wondered why there were little meetings going on while we were in the village! That’s another reason why the dumb white guy doesn’t make the decisions!!

“OK, so now, what’s the plan?” you ask. Robert and the local guys are working on it and plan B and C but my guess is we still don’t know what the solution might be. At least we serve the One who has full control if time. And at the end of the day, time is our friend, not our enemy.

Except when you wake at 3:00 a.m. for the day!


Story time

2019-03-13 to 2019-03-17

I started writing this in Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan about to fly to Dubai with Michael Hanson. Helen and Michael’s wife Carolyn are there and have already had one night there and one on the plane getting there. We’ve had 3 days here in Afghanistan. It didn’t turn out the way we thought it would.

I overnighted in Dubai on the way from Tanzania and then on Wednesday met Michael and a team of 5 from The Netherlands to travel to Kabul. We had no hassles traveling or at Customs and Immigration. In fact, it was pretty cruisy. We had the right paperwork so no worries. We drove through Kabul to the place we stayed, a guest house rented by the organisation. There we met with a number of the local team. I’ll call this blog “story time” as that’s what we did for the next 3 days. Story after story after story. There weren’t a lot of breaks. It would not be wise to give you names or show photos of people on social media. But here are a few highlights:

Yesterday Michael and I flew back to Dubai and met Helen and Carolyn. We’ve had a night’s rest and later today fly off to Lahore in Pakistan. We’re all good and ready to head out again.

A lot to think about and process and hopefully take some action on. Huge opportunities and God who is interested in every story.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Empower, educate, listen

2019-03-18 to 2019-03-23

Wow, time has flown, it’s almost a week since we were in touch. A week in Pakistan and now we’re in the second part of the trip, turning towards home. We have experienced much in the past week, too much to describe but we’ll try.

The food has been both substantial and succulent. At the moment we’re in a rural village in Punjab. We must have put on weight!!

We’ve visited many sewing programmes that empower poor women. Many people here are poor, particularly the minority Christians. We have heard such wonderful stories of change, for many, this is their most significant achievement in life. The other side of this is that many of them could get reasonable employment but their fathers, husbands or families will not let them work outside the home.

We have visited a number of Christian groups and of course. Michael and Kevin have been encouraging them with creative bible stories. It may surprise you that there are around 2.5 million Christians in Pakistan even though they represent only 1.6% of the population. Most live at the bottom of society and they face a great deal of institutional and societal prejudice every day. We’ve heard many stories about this. It’s embedded in education, justice, health and education, right across the board. One young girl said she would love for women to be treated as equals and for the society to be fairer for her people.

Education is such an important component of banishing poverty and empowering people. We are seeing it all around the place. In this area near the city of Toba Tek Singh, most of the adults cannot read. This makes everything about life difficult from reading signs and labels through to being able to read the Bible and grow in faith. Our partners here have a number of adult literacy classes going and it’s great to see what happens when people learn to read after a whole lifetime of illiteracy.

Job creation is also a major enemy of poverty. It was great to meet one group of 6 women who have a successful business making beautiful embroidery. Such pride, such hope.

It’s been so interesting being in Muslim countries while New Zealand deals with the Christchurch terrorist attack. An Afghan immigration officer commented saying sorry for the attack. People in Pakistan are overawed by the way our Prime Minister and our people have responded. The first few days we were sick to the stomach about what happened but I’m proud to be a kiwi again. Not so proud of some of the inane, even hateful things that some Christians are writing. One of our friends said in a post, “Let's not pontificate. Sit. Grieve. Trust.” Thank you Rowland Forman. In the aftermath of this terrible event, we’re going to need to develop a skill that few of us have; to listen with our mouths shut! Even though some of the listenings will be painful at times.

Today we will be at 2 church services, firstly at 9:00 a.m. then drive a couple of hours to another. Then it’s 4 hours to Rawalpindi. We’re there for 3 nights, we’ll wind up our time by developing a plan with our partners. There are a few issues to resolve. They are such good friends and generous beyond words. Needless to say, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye.

Michael and Carolyn who are travelling with us are loving the exposure and time in the village. They have met many wonderful people and are picking up the partnership relationships very well.

If all things go to plan, the next blog will be from Indonesia, hopefully in less than a week.

We are having problems with our blog site and will be changing sometime soon. If you want to comment, please do it on facebook or by email to either of our bright hope world accounts.

Much love

Kevin and Helen 


Not so well right now

2019-03-24 to 2019-03-27

Hi, hope you’re having a good day? We’re now in Dubai for a few hours and thought I’d snatch the opportunity to drop you a note about the last few days. There's been a bit going on.

Sunday was a very long day. We woke in the rural village of Shazada near to Toba Tek Singh (find that on a map) in Pakistan Punjab. We had breakfast and packed up our bags and cars. Then off to church around 9:00 a.m. and Michael spoke to them. At 9:30 there were 6 people and we began, by the end, there were about 40.

We finished church and then went back to the house and said our goodbyes. Then it was about 2 hours to another village where about 200 people had gathered. It was a big deal for them, all the churches gathered together. Michael spoke again, we had a nice meal and then spent the next 6 hours on the motorway to Rawalpindi. We stopped for a Chinese dinner on the way. Oh boy, it’s stressful driving in Pakistan. I’m not sure there is a worse place anywhere on earth. Seat belts, lane keeping, indicating and stopping at red lights are all very flexible options – at 100 km an hour plus. We were shattered by the time we got home.

We spent the next couple of days with our partners Azam and Barbara and two of their 3 kids, Izia and Eliza. We ate great food, visited 2 sewing centres in poor communities, saw what they were doing and chatted with the women involved. They are so thankful for a chance to achieve something.

We also visited the school that Barbara runs and then we spent quite a lot of time talking with them and making plans for the future. So, it’s been a bit of a challenging 10 days, but we came away so thankful for good people who are investing their lives in the poor and developing great ways of empowering them.

On the negative, Helen has not been well. She had had nasal issues, there was a lot of pollution and pollen in the air. But along with this, she seems to have picked up an ear infection. She began getting piercing pains in her ears and on Tuesday night, when we were out for dinner it hit her really hard and her left eardrum ruptured. So for the last couple of nights she/we have not slept, she’s been in pain and then last night she started vomiting. Fortunately, we were able to get some medication and now, here in Dubai, she is feeling a bit better.

So, if you’re into praying to God for others, would you pray for her? She still needs to improve a lot more yet. We were worried that the ear infection might be a problem on the flight today but it didn’t eventuate. Thank you God. Tomorrow we have 2 more flights to get to our first location in Indonesia. We’ll be in touch again from there.

Much love

Kevin and Helen.


improving and on the way home

2019-03-28 to 2019-04-04

I was hoping to do an earlier blog and update you on Helen. But, it didn’t happen, the days slipped away. Helen’s ears have stopped hurting a she’s not getting any issues while flying. But she can’t hear much and that could go on for a few weeks. It’s meant that she has struggled to hear what’s going on as we listen to people’s stories. And for the last 3 days her tummy has been playing up as well and she’s been shut in the hotel room while we gad about the Indonesian countryside. Not much fun for her. In a few hours we start the journey home arriving around 4:30 p.m. Friday.

We had a great time in Salatiga, it’s a beautiful place, volcanoes and mountains all around. The people we were going to stay with couldn’t have us as the husband broke a vertebra in his back. So we were put into a lovely “resort” for 3 nights. It was very pleasant and a nice surprise.

On Monday we flew to Pekanbaru via Jakarta. We missed our connecting flight but caught another about 2 hours later. No hassles. On Tuesday, without Helen and Carolyn, Michael and I spent the day with some potential partners. We met a bunch of their emerging leaders and visited a number of homes in two different locations around Pekanbaru. Lovely people, simple lifestyle, real poverty.

Some of the poverty is appalling and it’s virtually impossible to see a way out of it. They work like slaves and get hit on every side. Let’s call her Juliana. I guess she’s in her mid-40s and has 9 children. 2 years ago her husband died of TB. She lives in a wooden house that had a great deal of sunlight pouring through the roof and I imagine, a great deal of liquid at times. Her 2 eldest sons are being helped to finish college by our potential partner, they are great young men. The other 7 go to local schools although they need help for that as well. Two of them went off while we were there with very rough looking shoes.

The family has a brick-making kiln alongside the house. They have made the next batch of bricks but cannot afford the firewood to burn them. So, they get another loan, on top of other loans. Will any of these loans get paid back? What might happen between now and the time to sell them that will take all their profit? Another sickness, an accident on a motorbike? Who knows but the risk is very high. Then, of course, will the people buying the bricks pay for them? What will they do with the money they get it, will it be stolen, used unwisely, what debts do they have that they haven’t explained to the lender?

Juliana was in tears as she tried to explain all the pressures. “I’ll have to stop sending all these kids to school” she muttered through the tears. Where do you look, what do you say, what’s appropriate? So we just sit and say nothing and allow her to verbalise her fears and frustrations.

Later that day we sat in the hut of a family whose son had done so well at school that a university had offered him a position without having to sit entrance exams, despite the issues he faced from the school. 10% of the students in the school are from the Christian community and schools are supposed to provide teachers for minority groups in the subject of religion. However, the governor of the district refused and told the students they had to get their pastors to teach them and outside of school and give them a mark. Ryan is an extremely bright young man and a committed Christian, his pastor gave him a mark of 8 / 10. Ryan had hoped for more but he accepted that and took the result back to the school. When he got this report the 8 /10 had become 3.9 / 10 so the Christian kid would not be top of the class! What do you say when the parents are crying out of frustration at the systemic, institutional pressures they face day after day? All they want is a fair go.

Anyway, enough of their problems and ours. We’re heading home and looking forward to less rice, less heat, better drivers and no more hotel rooms for a long, long time!

Much love

Kevin and Helen 


Home

2019-04-04 to 2019-04-15

Hi, hope you’re doing OK? I thought I’d do another blog. Even though we’ve been back for just over a week I think it’s worth another one to wrap up the trip.

The last night in Pekanbaru we had a debrief with Michael and Carolyn and reviewed all the place we had been and the people we had met. It was a great trip generating a lot of thinking. There are new partnerships to consider and now, a number of reports to write. Actually, I got a couple off last week so we’re underway with that; phew.

The journey home went OK. We left Pekanbaru of an airline called Scoot and then connected up with Qantas to Sydney overnight. Then we waited in Sydney for a few hours before flying back to Auckland.

Helen’s ears are not great, still some pain and she can’t hear much. The doctors say it will be OK, she just has to wait it out. It’s been nice since being back to catch up with my mum, Jared and Ruth and Hugo and Joel. Today we’re heading off to Tauranga to spend a couple of days with Sara, Karl and Coco. Lots of fun and cuddles. From Karl of course!! Then it’s back home for Easter.

While travelling this time there has been a lot going on in Tanzania. This weekend the drilling rig is moving into the village I visited at the beginning of the trip. We’ve been able to get that underway and there has been a huge amount of communication going on and meetings to get all the pieces together. We’ve got a bit of a deadline as the rains are about to come and we really need the rig in and out by the time the rains arrive. I can’t wait to get back to the village later in the year to see the reaction from the people. This could be a real gamechanger for more than 1,000 people.

Last week was also busy as I had to get my application for a visa for the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has to be sent to London and back and it’s just over 6 weeks until I leave. Every day makes a difference. I got all the papers into the visa company on Friday and hopefully today the passport will start the journey and all will be in order.

We’re in preparation mode for the next trip, there is a lot to set up. I’m going without Helen and will be away for 34 days. It’s too long really but we’re just having to bite the bullet. We hate being apart for that long. I’ve first got a week in Egypt with a team from a donor church in the USA. Then it’s to Rwanda to check out a new partnership and on to Uganda for another new one and an existing one. Then it’s into The D R Congo. 17 days in 5 locations with 7 new partnership opportunities to check out.

But, more about that later. We’re heading to the south of the North Island for a couple of weeks at the beginning of May for a few meetings an to catch up with friends. We still have a couple of friends in that part of the world!

Well, it’s breakfast time and I’d better get on with it.

Much love

Helen and Kevin


The next chapter

2019-05-26 to 2019-06-02

Where did the last 6 weeks go!! It’s only a week now until we head off again, we just cannot believe it’s time to pack the bags again. Life’s like that though, isn’t it? As you think about what’s happened in the last 6 weeks, actually, quite a lot has happened!

We made a decision that Helen would come on the next trip. Initially, Kevin was going by himself but we added up the time away, more than 5 weeks, not going to happen! So, we’ll be off on the 2nd June, Helen will be away for 2 weeks and then Kevin for another 3.

We did a trip to the south of the North Island, met with a lot of friends, took some meetings and ran a couple of seminars for Bright Hope World. What a beautiful country we live in. Driving around this country in Autumn, with perfect weather, it was awe inspiring. It was great to catch up with so many friends too and see God at work in their lives.

We had a lovely weekend with family up here in Auckland. Most were around, the 3 grandchildren made a lot of noise and we had so much fun. Joel had his 6th birthday party and we celebrated Mother Day. All great fun. The most difficult part of our role is that we miss out on some of that stuff while we’re away.

We’ve been doing a lot of preparation for the final trip of the year too. It’s quite a complicated one with a month in India and a number of people coming and going during our time there.

And now our thoughts turn to the next couple of months and trip number 2 for this year. We head off to Singapore on Sunday. Then early Monday morning fly to Addis Ababa arriving early in the morning. We’ll sleep during the day and then fly on to Cairo arriving at 1:30 am on Tuesday. Later that day a team of 5 arrives from the USA and we spend the next 5 days with them, introducing them to our partners there.

After a week in Egypt, it’s on to Rwanda to visit a potential partnership which you'll hear about as we travel. Then on to Uganda for 5 days, a lot of road travel and 3 new partnerships to check out. Monday 17th June Helen heads back to New Zealand and Kevin heads into the D R Congo for 3 weeks. There are many new partnerships to check out, a few existing ones, 5 different locations and lot’s of potential issue to deal with. We’re really excited about the possibilities there. We’ve been trying to get to visit some of these places for a long time but haven’ been able to get there.

I’ve just received an email telling me my passport with the Congo visa has arrived back in NZ so, it looks like it’s all go. Actually, they said passport, I guess I’ll find out about the visa when I pick it up!!! Anyway, can’t wait to let you know what happens as we travel and some of the good people we meet.

Much love

Kevin and Helen.  


Eid in Egypt

2019-06-02 to 2019-06-09

Hi friends, greetings from Egypt. We’ve been gone for over a week now and our time in Egypt is almost over. It’s been a good time with partners and great donors from the USA. They left yesterday and by now will be about halfway between Dubai and Dallas. It’s Eid, a Muslim festival so there are few people around and most businesses are shut. It’s great to be able to move around Cairo sans traffic!

The trip to Cairo was long and tiring but we stopped over in Addis Ababa for a day as we had a 17-hour layover. We got a visa and slept for a bit. Then on to Cairo arriving at 1:30 a.m. Since we’ve been here we met up with the team and visited a number of partners. The first day with them was tourism. We visited the pyramids and the Egypt Museum. It’s hard to come to Cairo and not do that.

The next day we hung out with a partner around Cairo visiting people who are getting loans to establish businesses so the can get out of poverty. We met 5 of them in 2 different areas of the city. We saw what they were doing and heard their stories. Along the way, we also met the pastors of local churches who help identify the most vulnerable and who care for the people. We have been pleasantly surprised how effective these loans are at helping the economics of the families and also connecting them to their churches. The pastor's comment that people are much more committed and all have begun to grow spiritually again. Christians here are part of an oppressed minority and are just worn down from the pressure of living as a minority.

After a long day out and an amazing meal at the local restaurant, we met with the leaders of the programme and heard more stories of change and some of the workings of the programme. We are so impressed by the calibre of the people doing this. Some have given up good jobs to be involved and lead as volunteers.

The next day we headed south to visit our friends who work with a group of people who spend their whole lives collecting and sorting the rubbish of the two nearby cities. We’ve been there many times and every time some away appalled by the circumstances and challenged by the commitment of this family. We came back to Cairo and spent the afternoon with another partner family. We had a beautiful meal and just hung out with them listening to their story and getting to know them.

The purpose of this trip was to introduce the US team to our partners as they consider partnering with us here in Egypt. It seems they are keen to do that and I’ve begun to put together what that might look like. Every aspect of the work here requires a large increase in input and that became quite evident as we talked and planned. We haven’t been involved here for a long time but the scope of the networks that our partners have is broad.

Yesterday, Saturday was the last day for the team visit. We spent the morning hearing about a wonderful loan programme just commenced this year. It’s been very helpful and they say, is now ready to grow. Those involved have many types of businesses; selling tyres, chickens, young chicks, goats, buffaloes (milk and cheese) to name a few. You can see the pride in their eyes from the photos. For the first time in their lives, these people are able to care for their families and have dignity.

After this, we visited the vocational training and saw 2 programmes operating, a women’s beauty training and music teaching. It’s the summer holidays here and there is a 2-month break from school. So they run these classes for people, mainly school kids to attend. Then we met another group of women, ate koshary, a local delicacy and came back to the hotel for the team to pack. Then they were off to the airport and we slumped into a coma!!

It’s been great. We’ve got 1 more day here, less actually. At 2:00 a.m. tomorrow we move on to Rwanda via Addis Ababa.

Much love

Helen and Kevin


Genocide

2019-06-10 to 2019-06-12

For the past few days, we’ve been in Kigali, Rwanda. The purpose has been to visit a lovely couple, George and Jemima. It’s been great to hang out with them and see and hear their passion for the poor. It’s our first time in Rwanda apart from a few stopovers in the airport in the past. It’s been good to get our feet on the ground at last.

Jemima and George have two little boys and a little girl arriving next month. Jemima works at World Vision here as the executive secretary to the guy in charge and George works full time with a US-based organisation, Young Life. They have clubs all around the country and about 300 volunteer leaders. George oversees the development of the work and has his hands full.

On the side, they have established a ministry to the poor that we have come to look at. Youth Renewed is aimed at young men and women who are struggling to survive and in our time here we’ve heard a lot of very sad stories.

The day we arrived we headed off to see the soccer programme for boys. More than 200 boys come every afternoon for training in various age groups and games. For the older boys, their teams also play each weekend. It’s a pretty full on ministry. It’s been going for 11 years and they do it with whatever finds they can get. We visited the areas where the kids come from and it’s pretty soul destroying. Most have only one parent, some none. Many drop out of school as they can’t afford to go and then they get into trouble. Quite a few of the boys have been able to get signed up for semi-professional teams so this is a way out for some and a safe place for them all.

A lot of young girls are also being helped. Many are abused and get pregnant as young as 12. They are then kicked out and the streets are the only place they can go. One girl we spent some time with is 20, she’s got 2 kids, one is 7 and the other is one. You do the maths? She had just a few days earlier found out she was HIV+ and was very upset. George was too, it really affected him as she told him the grim news. Her youngest baby is constantly sick and it’s quite possible she is infected as well. What hope for someone like this. She cannot get food without sleeping with a man. We met a number like this.

We also visited the Kigali Genocide Museum for a couple of hours. Very sobering. On that plot of land, about an acre is buried 250,000 bodies. Over a period of 100 days in 1994, about 1 million people were butchered by their neighbours and friends. We learned some things. Genocide is no accident, it’s a planned action – as was this. Western nations, especially Belgium and to a lesser degree France created much of the environment for this to happen. Genocide is not the killing of a million people, it’s the murder of 1 million individuals. The last section of the display is about genocide and summarises some of the most recent global genocides and says we must learn from them. I’m very sure we haven’t. There are genocides happening right now and little is done. Those in the positions of power say nothing and make appalling decisions, just like they did in 1994. Just plain dumb.

However, we must all look at our responses to what is happening all around us. It won’t be on a genocidal scale, but there are people crying out for help and it’s up to us to move into that as best we can and not turn a blind eye to their circumstances or a deaf ear to their cries.

George has a huge heart and boundless energy. He’s the kind of guy who makes things happen. Now we have to make a call about our ability to help here.

Later today we leave Rwanda a fly to Uganda, just an hour away. We’ve got 5 days on the ground there and a lot of kms to travel. We’ll be in touch

Much love

Kevin and Helen.


street kids and stepping in to make a difference

2019-06-13 to 2019-06-16

Hi friends and family, it’s a very pleasant temperature as we relax for a few minutes before the next part of the journey. Since arriving in Uganda it seems like we’ve been sitting in a vehicle the whole time. When we booked the trip I had 5 days in Uganda to catch up with a couple of people. But between booking and arriving a whole bunch of new opportunities sprang up so we’ve been racing around to visit them.

We arrived at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday from Rwanda, cashed some money, bought a sim card and checked into our hotel near the airport. At 7:00 Thursday morning we were in the van on the way to Gulu in the north. It took 6 hours to get there with a little break for breakfast at 10:30. On arrival in Gulu at 1:00 we met the people we were visiting and got to know each other over lunch. They are 2 very nice young Ugandan men with a passion to see their village emerge from poverty. After lunch, we drove 25 minutes to the village and spent a couple of hours with the leaders. It was a great meeting, the people want to get out of poverty and the chairman has a vision for his people. This is not always the case. We came away with some thoughts and will see what we can do, at the very least, connect them to some people. We wonder how many villages there are like this in Africa? At 7:00 p.m. we met again over dinner and chatted for a couple of hours.

Joseph and Isaack were introduced to us by an American woman who is retiring to our home town in New Zealand with her Kiwi husband. They have lived in the UK for most of their lives. Sue met us at church and we began a conversation. She was there with us in Gulu, she spends some weeks a year in Uganda.

Friday morning we were up early and on the road at 6:00 am heading to Mbarara, 10 hours away. We would have made it in 10 hours, but the van was overheating. So we had a breakfast stop, 4 overheating stops and a change of vehicle in Kampala. We arrived in Mbarara at 5:00 p.m. and after a 30-minute break we went out to visit another new, potential partner and some of the people she is helping. 3 young women, raped in their early teens and now with children. They were thrown out by their families because of shame, with no education and few prospects. But Charity and Christine have stepped in to help. With no resources they decided to make a difference, how can we not help?!

The next morning we met with our good friends Justus and Reuben and listened to stories of people being helped through a loan programme. And then back to visit another potential partner, Irene. She’s part of a pastoral team in a large church and she has a deep concern for many young girls living on the streets of Mbarara. There are hundreds of them. She has taken 2 of them on herself but the pressure of caring for them as a widow is taking its toll and she is burdened for others too. We heard Sara’s story and more horror stories of how young women are treated here and what poverty does as it distorts the values of people.

Now there is a lot to think about as we see what we could possibly do to help. I don’t know what’s going to happen in Africa in the next few years. They say about 1 billion babies will be born in Africa in the next 20 – 25 years. Imagine that, it’s not coping now! I cannot imagine what the future looks like.

Anyway, tomorrow Helen heads on back to New Zealand and Kevin is off to the Congo. We’d value prayer as we are apart and travelling in some pretty rough places. In the morning it’s a flight to the north of Uganda and a land border crossing, then another flight to Bunia. A few days there and on to Beni. Bunia is currently the epicentre of a lot of violence and Beni the epicentre of the Ebola scourge. So, if you pray, please do so, for us and those we meet. We have some existing partnerships to check out and many new ones too.

I’m expecting to be able to send reports so, watch out for the next one. In the meantime, have a great week.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Bingi

2019-06-17 to 2019-06-19

Hi friends,

Helen and I parted on Monday morning and I went off to find a little aeroplane operated by Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) who operate in Uganda and The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC.) I’ve flown to the DRC with them before, both times direct from Entebbe to Bunia. But now, with the unrest in the DRC they don’t do it that way. First, we flew to Arua in the north of Uganda, about 90 minutes on a 12 seater. Then we landed and because of the threat of Ebola, we washed our hands and had our temperature taken.

Then it was into a van and to the border with DRC for a land crossing. Easy through Uganda, chaos on the other side. But we got there, of course, no one knows where New Zealand is! Finally to the little airstrip at Aru and about an hour wait, another hand washing, another writing down on scraps of paper all our details, weighing of passengers and luggage and …. Anyway, this time we were in a 9 seater plane and a pleasant flight to Bunia. What a wonderful, beautiful, sad, savage country.

So began 3 days of visits and wonderful, tragic stories. This place is an enigma, that’s the word. We drove past the 2 large recently erected Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps established because of the recent outbreak of violence and later visited them. It looks like chaos but you get in there and you find the tents in straight lines and organised. We go to a meeting with the leaders of the camp who have clear objectives and then walk outside and a rabble quickly forms as we walk around meeting people. People lying on the ground with nothing to do, people laughing as they cook, kids playing seemingly without a care in the world. God protect them from the realities.

I want to tell you about pastor Bingi. He’s a lovely man who has given his life for the poorest of the poor. He has a little Charity called LASI. He works with the refugee people, helping them get medical treatment. He has a soft spot for pregnant women and their kids. The hospital has agreed that if he gives the person a form from LASI they can be treated and he will pay. As we walked up to Bingi’s office on the back corner of the Bunia hospital there were 3 young men sitting, waiting. The sister of one of them had died giving birth, the other was the brother of the woman’s husband. The baby had died too. The husband had run away when the situation became worse. They don’t know where he is. They have no money, they live in the IDP camp. They came to Bingi to see if he could help. He has nothing left. In fact, while we were sitting in his office the hospital rang to say that they could not accept any more patients from him as he had sent too many and had not recently paid for them.

We spent some time with him and as we were leaving a man ran into the room asking for help as a family member had just arrived from the bush with a machete wound. He needed urgent help, but Bingi had no credit left with the hospital. All he could say was, come back tomorrow.

Here, in the midst of the chaos was unspeakable charity. This man has taken on himself the pain and tragedy of many people. He has offered to make the payment so they could be treated. Many of them are now pain-free, healthy and in a sense unconcerned, but Bingi, he’s still bearing their burdens. He’s taken their sorrow, is struggling with their tragedy and worrying about payment of their account.

I know someone else who did that too, on a much larger scale. Bingi is such a wonderful representative of his Master and an impressive fleshing out of what it means to serve.

Helen is now safely back home but my mum is not well, we’re concerned about her situation.

Thanks for your love and prayers

K and H


Collateral damage

2019-06-20 to 2019-06-23

The days are ticking away as another flight looms later today from Beni to Goma. An update on my mum; she’s in hospital having tests, mainly x-rays on her back. Hopefully, she’ll know something in a couple of days. It’s not easy being way over here while things like that are going on.

During my 3 days in Bunia, I visited a range of people to see what’s happening with our partners. I met with our partners George Atido and his wife Jacqueline, I met with the reps of 3 education scholarship programmes that have 80 students, both primary and secondary. I also had a meeting with some of the parents and pupils. It was great to hear how much help and relief the programme gives to them all. Many are displaced people who have no way of sending their kids to school. The downside is that there are hundreds not in the programme.

Nehemiah very proudly told me about his role as a supervisor on a construction gang, he’s building a house and is so proud to have this responsibility. He is the first to graduate from the programme and wants to have his own construction company one day.

I also went to prison! One morning we spent a couple of hours visiting the women’s prison and the young men’s prison compounds. Mmmm, very interesting. The women’s conditions are not as bad as I thought they might be but the young guys, my goodness it’s a rough place to live. Mind you, for many of them it’s better than the alternative, the street. The women were so glad to see visitors and sang beautifully as African women can. We encouraged them and they were so happy.

We also visited the recently erected displaced people camps. There’s much I could say about the situation here, the turmoil and the frustration. But the main impression I get from listening to people is how deeply traumatised they are by what's happening to them. Ordinary people are dying of stress. There is no support or counselling available. Every day there is another shocking incident with whole villages being wiped out by machete-wielding thugs and murderers. The local mayor, almost in tears said, “please, bring the whole world here to help us!” This is an unseen genocide, sponsored by governments, corporations and corrupt politicians. This is a global issue, not just a local one.

I’m in Congo with a good friend, Jean-Paul Tingityabo. He is a refugee from Congo and has an amazing story. He has developed a local NGO and would desperately love to shift back here from Uganda. He has some large projects like building school classrooms, community toilets and clinics. He uses these projects to finance his team. They also have a bunch of other types of projects I am particularly interested in, self-help projects mainly for women and widows, skills training for young people, support for orphans and vulnerable children. There is enough here for me to stay for months at a time.

Last Thursday we flew from Bunia to Beni, it’s a short flight. This is the centre of the Ebola crisis. I’ve washed my hands about 10 times a day in chlorine and had my shoes sprayed many times. We’ve visited health clinics, women’s self-help groups, wandered through a market, eaten some very tasty food in local restaurants and hung out with Jean-Paul and Vangy his sidekick. We visited the mayor who is desperately trying to broker solutions with people who have no intentions of changing. There are good people here trying to make a difference. But there are also evil people actively operating to desecrate, destroy and ruin.  

Who will win this tug-of-war for the riches of the Congo? It’s really hard to say, but the whole world has to take some of the blame for what’s happening here. The greatest asset this place has is it’s wonderful, warm-hearted, spontaneous people. They are victims of a narrative being written by other people which they have no input into or control over. They are merely collateral damage, butchered on the block of other people’s greed and lust.

Over and out for now

Much love

Kevin and Helen


what do you say?

2019-06-23 to 2019-06-27

Mmmmm, time for another blog methinks. I really enjoyed my time in Beni, met some great people doing wonderful things in the midst of real challenges and threats. Jean-Paul didn’t tell me at the time, but there was a major incident 4 km outside Beni the 2nd day we were there. He wasn’t sure how I would react. Well, what could I do, run into the bush! We just heard today, that yesterday there was a major incident just outside Bunia and many were killed. People are fleeing this country in droves to head to Uganda.

Jean-Paul and I flew out from the crazy little airport of Beni on Sunday to Goma. The following day we spent time with a group of men and women who told us many stories of the situation around Goma. We heard that the main result of the UN being here for more than 20 years is that the number of militia groups roaming the countryside has proliferated, increasing the chaos, butchering whole families and villages.

This group is trying to deal with the many issues that this chaos is creating. There are tens of thousands of abused, raped and abandoned women and many more vulnerable young people and orphans. We heard far too much detail about what is still happening. Their dream is to empower and release as many as possible. However, they are not even scratching the edge of the problem, it’s so vast they are overwhelmed. Can we help? Many are trying and failing, mainly because they come with their own agenda. One major organisation said they would support them if they took on extra administrative staff to make sure every dollar was spent properly. 60% of the funds given would be spent on staff to audit the project, and they would have to get a much better building!! Typical Western rubbish. That’s why we get involved on the basis of relationship and friendship with our partners so the maximum impact can be achieved at the grassroots level.

Tuesday we caught the fast boat to Bukavu, about 2½ hours. We were there to spend time with a group of young people seeking to become self-sustaining as they are involved in helping others. It was two days of training and grappling with how to run a small business. I was encouraged by their thinking. This morning we caught the boat back to Goma.

On arrival, we went to visit a church that Jean-Paul used to work with. There was a donor helping children go to school, but the donor left and the kids have been disappointed again. It’s hard to sit in front of 100 little kids and their mothers and not be moved. This church has 170 children in it, with about the same number of adults. 70 of the kids are orphans. The scale of these issues is immense. I met one little woman as we left. 3 months earlier she gave birth to triplets. Her husband is injured and cannot work so she has no income. The church helped with her birth costs, but they have nothing.

Jean-Paul exclaims again, “only God can help here.” I must have heard it a dozen times from him in the last 2 weeks! And at the end of the day, that’s the bottom line. But, where do we fit into the activity of God? What’s our responsibility as the people of God? That will fill my thoughts for the next few weeks.

My mum is still in hospital try to sort out what the real issues are. Hopefully, she’ll be out soon and home to recuperate. We appreciate your prayers as we’re apart. It’s been good to be able to communicate regularly. The internet here in Congo is pretty good, better than I was expecting. Helen is about to head off to stay with Sara for the weekend so they’ll be having a lot of fun I’m sure.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow I fly off to Lubumbashi in the south of the country. More from me from there. Much love,

Kevin and Helen.

p.s hope you enjoy the photos.


Deeply Moving.

2019-06-28 to 2019-07-03

Sometimes, in the midst of all you see, you’re confronted by something that just knocks you off your feet. A situation that seems so extreme, so unfair so desperate you have to do something. It happened this week to me.

I was in the city of Likasi, and mining town about 120 km from Lubumbashi where I’ve been based for the past 5 days. I went to visit a little ministry for street kids and orphans run by the Mulopwe family. I walked into a little church building and was confronted by 50 little people staring at me, some of them, eyes filled with terror. Then slowly they began to sing, tentatively at first but becoming more and more confident. Of course, I had to tell them a story for a couple of minutes but they weren't there to listen to me, something much more pressing was on their minds…… food. For some, this would be 1 of only 2 decent meals they would eat this week, rice and beans. 

Over to the right was a woman nursing a baby. I went over to say hello and of course, the baby was traumatised by this great white monster. Then they told me her story. 10 months ago, way up north, about 2,000 km up north, her husband was killed by rebels. Without even having time to bury him, she and her family got on a truck and travelled south, as far away as possible from the scene of the trauma. She had nothing, wait, she did, 6 children and another on the way.

Mama Lydia is about 35, she doesn’t know when she was born. And now, here she is 10 months later living in 2 rooms loaned to her by strangers. She sleeps with her baby of about 4 months on a crude bed in a room that is 2m by 2m square. Her 6 other kids sleep on rags on the floor in a room 2.5m by 2m square. Their possessions? Just the clothes they stand in. She has never been to school and doesn’t think her children will either. The sense of hopeless was thick in the air when I went to visit her later in the day. But what lovely little kids, one fears for them. As Jean-Paul would say, “only God can help!”

But I’m here in the room with them and I hear God whispering…. You can’t leave here without helping somehow. And so I helped, what else can you do? A bit right now and somehow I’ll have to see what can be done to help this family long term. I don’t even know what that means yet.

The last 3 weeks of this trip has been one of the most tiring, challenging trips I’ve ever done. Not the actual travel, that’s the least of it really. It’s the constant sense of trauma in the air. It’s listening to story after story of woe, death, fleeing and loss. It’s not quite a bad here in the south of the country, but there’s still an underlying sense of deep despair. It’s very confronting and emotionally draining. Sometimes you just feel wrung out at the end of the day, numb and sad.

Lubumbashi has been great. I met an existing partner we’ve been supporting through Sowers International. I had discussions with a team of very impressive men and women who work with Murray and Joy Stevenson from New Zealand – they assist and provide support for a huge network of churches, schools and clinics. Then I spent a day and night in Likasi where I met Mama Lydia and then yesterday I spent the day visiting another potential partner caring for orphans and vulnerable women. By last night I was a zombie. It’s been great to hang out with friends here, we have a long history with Murray and Joy.

Later today I begin the trek home flying from Lubumbashi to Addis Ababa, then on to Singapore and after 7 hours on the ground back to Auckland, arriving there around midday on Friday. My mum still isn’t well. She’s in a care facility for a few weeks until her back heals and she can move again. I think that’s been playing on my mind a bit too.

So, thanks for your prayer. We’ll be in touch again in a few days,

Much love,

Helen and Kevin               


Wrapping up the last trip

2019-07-02 to 2019-07-22

Hi there,

Well, where did the last 2 weeks disappear to! Despite good intentions, it’s taken a while to get my head together to write another update. But, here we are. I thought I’d put up a few more photos of the trip for you to check out.

The time in the D R Congo was great. I met some wonderful people doing wonderful things. The cost of serving God in those places is immense but they do it with all their hearts. It’s truly inspiring and will now take a lot of time and thought to know how best to respond to all the opportunities we discovered. The poverty there is very widespread and complicated by constant rebel activity in many areas. It’s dangerous to go more than about 4 km out from most towns, the rural areas are ruled by armed militia groups. And then there’s Ebola, it’s spread further since I came home I see from the news.

I’m just getting back to normal sleeping and eating patterns, it usually takes about 2 weeks. Tomorrow Helen and I head down to Christchurch to meet with our team. Then it’s on to Nelson on the weekend and back home in a week. We have 3 BHW Global update evenings to attend between now and leaving again on the 25th August. One is in Tauranga on the 2nd August, then on the 10th August in Auckland and finally one in Hamilton on the 23rd. These are opportunities to tell something of the BHW story and that of our partners. You’re welcome to come along, let us know if you’re interested.

My mum is still recuperating in hospital. We’re hoping she’ll be out again soon and be able to move about herself. She’s doing OK, but at 90, healing takes time. She’s in good spirits and is coping well with the enforced rest in the hospital. The nurses are carers are lovely.

On the 25th August Kevin heads off again to Ethiopia and Tanzania and then meets Helen in India on the 6th September. We’ve then got a month there flowed by shorter visits to Nepal, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey. But, we’ll be in touch again about that trip closer to the time.

We cannot express how much we appreciate your friendship and interest in us and what we’re doing. We’re very encouraged by what God is doing through our partners and also encouraged by your interest, prayer and support.

God bless you and much love from us

Kevin and Helen


7 countries, 27 flights, 66 days and lot's of opportunity

2019-08-22

Dear friends, the time has come to leave again. Where did the last few weeks go! We've had a busy time since getting home on the 5th of July. Since then we've been involved in looking after Kevin's mum who has been in hospital after fracturing a vertebra. She's out now and back home but it's been pretty time-consuming. It's been great to be here and able to help her. 

We've also been able to help run a few seminars for Bright Hope World and speak at our home church about what we do. It's great to be able to talk to people about our partners and what they are doing. It's also been great to start a bunch of new partnerships in D R Congo, Tanzania and Indonesia. 

But, the year ticks on and now we cast our thoughts to the next couple of months. We hope you're able to follow along as we attempt our longest trip for quite a while. We're glad to say that next year we'll be away less, still busy, but the really long trips will fade away. We live in hope! 

Kevin leaves on Sunday for 5 days in Ethiopia checking out our existing partner Worku and looking at a new opportunity. So, it looks like Ethiopia will be on the horizon for us for some time yet.

Then it's down to Tanzania for 4 days to explore the next steps for the village water project. In those 2 countries, John Stanley from Chase Oaks Church will be with him and Brendon Harkness from New Zealand will join us in Tanzania. He's a water engineer in charge of freshwater for Auckland City.  He knows his water and the village is nowhere near the size of Auckland. But it's a tricky one as the borehole has been drilled but the water quality isn't great. 

Then it's back to India and Helen flies in and for 2 1/2 weeks we'll have 2 couples with us who are becoming facilitators in India. We'll be covering a lot of km in planes, trains and cars, mainly around Kolkata and in the north along the Bhutan border. After they leave we have another couple of weeks checking out new partnerships and then it's on to Nepal. 

After 4 days in Nepal we fly to Egypt to confirm a huge new partnership and then 4 days in Lebanon visiting an existing partner and checking out a new one in the Bekaa Valley. It's still a tough place with many traumatised people stuck in refugee limbo. 

Our final destination is Turkey. We have 4 days break around Izmir and then spend 4 days at a conference meeting Turkish church leaders and exploring partnership opportunities with them. It's a pretty interesting place to be involved and we can't wait to listen to their hearts and stories. There is huge potential in that country. 

Well friends, it's time to sign off. God bless and keep you. Much love. 


beautiful Ethiopia

2019-08-25 to 2019-08-30

Later tonight I leave Ethiopia for Tanzania. The time in Ethiopia has been great, though, with jet-lag, it’s been a bit of a daze. It’s the wet season here so it’s not too hot which has helped. The trip from Auckland to Dubai (17 hours) passed in a blur. The kiwi guy beside me was really funny, we laughed a lot. He was like an energiser bunny, up and down, walking and eating. He ate 7 meals, it was like, every time he came back to his seat he had another meal! Then I had 5 hours on the ground before flying to Addis Ababa. Travel is a necessary evil for us.

The first 2 days in Addis were great. I spent time with a team of church leaders and heard many stories of how the church is growing and how they are facing much opposition. A lot of the stories cannot be put out into social media as it would compromise them and their roles in the community. One guy I met had been beaten by the community just a few weeks previously because he was challenging some of the community norms. When I asked him if he was afraid to return to his village, he just smiled…. He left that day for the village.

A friend from the USA arrived the day after me and we’ve been hanging out since then. On Wednesday we flew to Gondar and have spent 2 days with Worku, our friend here. The school he has built is between academic years and he is signing on students. The roll is closed with 700 in the preschool and 1,300 in the primary. He advertised for 10 new teachers and 500 teachers applied for the positions! This country is so full of young people. When you sit on the street cafés, literally 1,000s of young people flock past.

I’m sitting in a meeting with the leaders of the school planning for a team to come from the USA to help teachers with English comprehension and conversation. Looks like it’s coming together for a trip in March for research and then a training group in September.

So, at 7:30 tonight we fly from Gondar to Addis and then at 12:10 tomorrow morning we fly to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, arriving at 3:40 a.m. Then it’s a bit of a rest and out into the bush. It will be very different from Ethiopia. And a long day. Hopefully, I’ll get another blog out with some photos before leaving there.

Helen is with Sara, Karl and Coco for a couple of days before she flies out to meet me in India next Wednesday. She’s having a lot of fun. We miss 2 of the grandkids birthdays on this trip, that’s the worst part of the gig.

Thanks for following along, it means a lot to know people are interested and praying.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


disappointment in Tanzania

2019-08-31 to 2019-09-03

The quick trip to Tanzania is over and I’m currently flying over Africa on the way to Addis Ababa. There I’ll have a quick stop and on to Delhi, India. Meanwhile, Helen is somewhere between Auckland and Dubai. She has a stopover there for 5 hours and then on to Delhi. Back together, wonderful.

Tanzania has been quite a difficult time. My reason for coming was to check out progress on a large borehole and water project in a rural village. A borehole has been drilled and the reports show that the water quality isn’t great. So, we came to find the situation and make a plan. Well, pardon the pun, it’s pretty disappointing. There are a number of issues, possibly the worst is that the drillers charged us for drilling to 180 metres and the borehole is only 127. The water is undrinkable and it’s going to need to be treated. This all adds costs and requires people on the ground to have more training to operate the equipment. In talking to a local expert, the water quality is not uncommon in this area and there are some options.

We’ve also made contact with a group called Water Mission and they are willing to get involved at some level and we’ll be following up with that too. This morning we had a meeting with a supply company who have the gear we’ll require up there. Some things are coming together.

It’s been great to have Brendon Harkness with me from New Zealand. He’s a water engineer and his input has been invaluable. He’s also a top bloke and easy to get on with.

As well as the technical issues we’ve run into some personnel issues too. A dispute has arisen between 2 key people and somehow, they have allowed it to get out of control. Now we’ve got some work to do on that front. It’s not unexpected. Every partnership goes through difficult stages. In a community like this, when a large project enters, even though they have initiated it, some of the dynamics change. We have to move sensitively, ensure that we’re not moving too quickly and that everyone is on board with what’s happening.

We had a day and a half in the village talking, measuring and making plans, now the follow up begins. Actually, it’s already well underway. Disappointing is probably the word I would use to describe to this visit. But, we remain positive and are committed to bringing water to this very poor place. It’s really interesting to see what the promise of water is doing in the village. We discovered 2 brand new toilets have been built. One woman has started keeping chickens and it’s like some lights have gone on already, even before the water arrives.

Hopefully, I’ll get to send this out when I get to Addis. I got a nice surprise on the Dar es Salaam to Addis Ababa flight with an upgrade to business class! Nice.

Thanks for following along and being part of what God is doing in places like Kwamwanamangale Handeni Village. The world is changed when people gather around an issue and contribute what they can. Your interest and praying makes a real difference. Some of the issues we’re in that place require human and supernatural intervention.

Much love

Kevin and Helen.


Lot's of travel, lot's of good people

2019-09-04 to 2019-09-11

Hi,

We started writing this while sitting in a train carriage somewhere between Kazipet and Secunderabad in India. It’s pretty comfortable and much safer than the roads. I think we’ll use them a bit more for short trips in the future in India. The last few days have been a blur of driving, listening to stories, rain and floods and trying to find somewhere to sleep at night. Our plans changed but we got to do all we wanted to.

Helen and I both got to Delhi about a week ago and met up as planned. That’s gotta be a highlight! We had one night at a hotel near the airport and early on Thursday we headed back to the airport to catch a plane to Nagpur. Benny and Mary were there to meet us and we packed the luggage into a little Suzuki Swift, squeezed in, got some lunch and off we went to Balharshah. 4 hours later after numerous near misses on the road we got to our hotel and then went around to another couple’s place for dinner.

Benny and Mary and Alex and Minnie at whose place we had dinner have been missionaries in this part of Maharasthra State for 25 years. Both couples come from Kerala in the south of India. We are here to see if there are opportunities for partnership and quite quickly it became evident that these are very good people.

We spent the next day at Alex and Minnie’s place. Most of their team came from great distances to meet us and we spent the day listening to their stories. Most of these guys had come to faith from poor, rural Hindu backgrounds and have suffered, some severely, for giving up their futile village deities. We flopped into bed exhausted, especially Helen as she was still recovering from jet-lag.

Saturday turned into a real marathon. We left Balharshah after breakfast with Alex and Minnie. Very early on we started hearing about the bridges that were flooded and impassable. We tried to navigate around the floods and thought we were doing OK until, 10  km from our destination, the bridge was covered by half a metre of water. There was no way forward or back. So we found a “hotel” in Ashti. We survived the night after killing about 30 mozzies. Early the next morning we left for the bridge and it was clear. We pushed on another 10 km to Allapalli and had breakfast with a lovely couple who are translating the Bible into the Gondi language.

Then it was down to the hostel where there are 28 boys. They come for education as there is little quality education in rural, village areas. Then we met for a church meeting, preached a little sermon and then lunched. Around 3:30 we headed off to Sironcha. We had some dinner there and soon after were taken to a hotel across the Godavari River – more water than all the rivers of New Zealand combined - into the neighbouring Telangana State.

The next day Helen needed a day off and I spent the day with Benny and Mary. We visited the land on which they have plans for agriculture and education. Then late afternoon we visited a village where we met with some tribal people and heard about their faith and lifestyle. We then visited the guy who is overseeing the work there and on the way out, after walking through mud and sand we were called into the house of a Hindu priest. He’s a well-known controller of power in the area and we were very surprised that he wanted us to come to his home. In we went and found a man searching for something more than he had. His wife is a believer and we left with invitations for Benny to return and talk. So who knows what God will do.

Yesterday we left Sironcha at 5:30 for Kazipet train station and 3 hours later we were waiting for the train. It was 40 minutes late and then we were off to Secunderabad. We travelled with Santosh a partner who was born in Sironcha and now is a missionary in North India on the Bhutan border. When we got to Secunderabad we drove for an hour to Santosh mothers house for lunch. After 90 minutes we were back in the car to the airport.

We flew to Delhi and right now are having a couple of catch up days with a lot of writing and emails to respond to. It’s so nice to have some space and to get our minds clear.

Sorry, this is a bit longer than normal. But it’s been full-on and we’ve hardly had time to think, let alone write about it.

We always appreciate your prayer and messages as we travel.

Much love

Helen and Kevin.


A bit sad in North India

2019-09-12 to 2019-09-18

We’re on another train on the way to Kolkata. Since the last blog we’ve had plenty to see and process.

Last Thursday evening a couple from the USA, Collin and Kenzie Jones joined us. We met them at the airport and got a Uber back to stay at Delhi Bible Institute. They were tired having done a 14 hour flight from Newark, so, off to bed they went.

The next day we caught another Uber and crossed to the north of Delhi and met another partner, Sushil and his wife Sarah. We spent the day with them and their family listening to stories about their work empowering mainly Muslim people and informal education, training women to sew and a school for kids who are too young to walk to the nearest school. When their students get to real school they are the best students in class because of the teaching they have received. It’s great to see the poorest kids outdoing the rich ones!! It was a stimulating day and an interesting first exposure for Collin and Kenzie.

On return to DBI we went out to Khan Market nearby for a meal and when we got back to DBI we were informed that Sam, the wife of Yogita whom we had been dealing with at DBI had died suddenly that afternoon. What a shock for everyone there, they were wandering about like zombies. So sad.

Early next morning we woke to the news from Tony and Leah McLauchlan that their 10-year-old daughter, Lavinia and been taken to hospital and throughout the day we continued getting news that she was being tested for diabetes. They were due to leave that evening to join us, but of course, it soon became obvious that was not going to happen. We were and are feeling so sad for them and praying for Lavinia. This is the second time their trip plans to India have been thwarted by trip-aborting circumstances. Tough changes coming up for them all.

Then we were off early for a day trip to the Taj Mahal. Although we’ve been there a few times, it’s always nice to see and interesting to be with people who have not seen it before. After visiting the Taj and the Red Fort we went to the Pinch of Spice restaurant which had been recommended to us. My goodness, what an amazing meal. If I’ve had a better Indian meal I cannot remember it!!! I’ve included a few photos of the day.

On Sunday morning we attended church at DBI, had lunch with one of the pastors and his wife and then flew off to Kolkota. We stayed in the Babul Hotel, the rooms about the size of a closet. But we were only there for 10 hours, most of them in bed. Next morning we were off to Howrah Railway Station and onto the train to Jamtara, 3½ hours away. Molay, another partner came with us. We spent 2 nights with our partners out in Jamtara where they are training women to gain basic life skills. Many are Santal people, indigenous to India and outside and below the caste system. We had a great time there with the people leading the work from different parts of India and very passionate about serving and training people. We had to speak to the school of 1,600 kids and twice to the combined Bible school and women’s course students. There hasn’t been a lot of time to rest!

We made plans for the future with Santhosh and now we are moving on, reports almost completed.

We’re well into travel-weary mode in which we operate most of the time we are on long trips like this!

Please pray for Tony, Leah and Lavinia? And for us too as there is plenty to see, talk about and process?

It’s great to be out here seeing and hearing about life change and to observe our friends in action.

It’s Coco’s birthday today so we’re a bit sad, I don’t think we’ve missed one of her birthdays. We’ll be having another party when we get home I’m sure, she’s 6 today.

Much love

Helen and Kevin               


Such nice people in north India

2019-09-19 to 2019-09-27

Since we were last in touch have visited 4 partners in north India. Along with that we’ve had Collin and Kenzie Jones from the US with us and now their time here is coming to an end.it’s been so cool having them with us to share the joy of what we’re seeing and experiencing and also to share the speaking!!! My goodness, so much talking to do but they are great and naturals at this. Anyway, a few comments about those we have spent time with.

Kolkata – Molay and Anita Kanti Das. They have a great little work with children. They pastor a little church and we met with them one evening. But they also run a tutoring class for 45 poor kids in their community. The kids come and learn and are doing so well in their tests and exams. They also run a kids club every Sunday for 75 neighbourhood children as well and a couple vacation children’s programmes a couple of times a year. It was great to hang out with them and see what’s happening there.

Siliguri – Bright Hope English School. We spent a day with them. It’s growing, now there are 145 girls at the school and 45 in the hostel. 90% of the children are Adivasi people, a despised and vulnerable group of people here and the indigenous people of this part of India. They are very vulnerable and it’s lovely to see them growing and maturing. One girl, Pinky Rei has been there since the beginning in 2010 and it’s great to see her now as a 19-year-old and caring for the younger girls.

Chamurchi – Santosh and Sirisha Jupaka. We are supporting a boys hostel here, the boys are so much fun. We had a couple of days there playing with them, visiting some people and listening to many stories. The place is right on the Indo-Bhutan border and the boys come from both sides. Many are from broken homes  and some are there for education as they live in places where there are no schools. After a weekend of fun they didn’t want to go off to school on Monday morning as we were leaving.

Imphal – Zeeneta and her family. We just got back today from a few days with Zeeneta. We actually missed out on a day as a plane was late and we missed a connection. But we had a good time with the family, listening to their stories and meeting their people. They have a lovely café in Imphal now which they use as a base of operations. They are training people and assisting vulnerable people who are making life transitions.

So, now the work begins, processing all this. There are lots of stories to write up, photos to file and reports to write. But we try to do them as we go and all of them are at some level of completion.

We have 1 night in Kolkata and tomorrow we’re off to Dimapur in Nagaland for 3 days. We then get a  bit of a break for a couple of days to write and rest up before the final leg of the trip. Today we’re exactly half-way through this trip, 33 days to go. We’re going to miss Collin and Kenzie and all the great talks and perspective they bring. The young people we’ve been visiting have loved having some young people to play with them too instead of a couple of old-timers!!

So dear friends, you’re a blessing to us as we move about. We are so thankful that as we go we are able to encourage and bless people. And this happens because you are on our team. You have no idea how much we need you and how much your investment in our lives radiates out to so many.

Thank you so much. I've included quite a few photos - enjoy. 

Much love

Helen and Kevin               


last week in India

2019-09-28 to 2019-10-05

Our time in India comes to an end tomorrow when we fly out of Delhi to Kathmandu. It’s over a month since we arrived, the longest we’ve ever spent here and apart from a month in Zambia once, this might be the longest we’ve stayed in one country. Certainly for many years. We’ve covered the ground and seen a lot. The sad part is that our friends Tony and Leah weren’t here with us. But we had Collin and Kenzie for half the time and that was great. They are such a great couple, we loved travelling with them, lot’s of fun and a few tears as well. We met some lovely people, champions of faith. Living their lives for the sake of others. Spending their lives in The great cause - The Good News.

Since Collin and Kenzie left it’s definitely been quieter! We had a change of plans and last Saturday flew off to Dimapur in Nagaland. It’s such an interesting place, worth reading about some time. We had 2 days with our partners there. We visited them running a free medical clinic in a poor area of the city. We spent time with the team talking through plans for the coming years, we spoke at a large church, well the building was large but the numbers were small – a sad thing happening there. And we visited the pig farm we helped set up some years ago which has become a real blessing to many poor families.

The farm still has about 60 pigs, there were  80 here a few days before but 20 were sold. Out key man, Subong Aier started the Nagaland Pig Farmers Association. When you read up about Nagaland you will inevitably be confronted by the importance of pigs in Naga culture. This project is run by Subong and is supported by the State Government who has just supplied them with 2 vehicles. To join the association you have to own at least 10 sows. From time to time the Association buys young pigs from the members and distributes them to poor families in remote areas. Prior to getting the pigs the people have to sign up and receive training. They do this through their church, Naga people are pretty much 100% church-goers although this is declining significantly now. The older, rural ones certainly do.

Each year each family has to give one healthy 3-month-old pig back to the project to be given to another family. Thousands of pigs have been given away in the last few years. Just 2 days before we got there 22 more families were blessed. Potentially this is all a family needs to be economically secure if they follow their training. Subong loves this work though he is working far too hard. 

The last 4 days we had to have a break, so we did. We were going to visit another potential partner but we’ll do that on a later trip. We could see the signs of overtiredness looming and it came at just the right time. We were able to rest a bit and get a lot of reports written which sure takes the pressure off the rest of the trip and the time immediately after we arrive home.

So the last third of our trip begins tomorrow. We have 4 days in Nepal with mainly 2 people to see. Then it’s to Egypt for 4 days with a number of partners to visit. Following that, 4 days in Lebanon with an existing partner and potential partner to get to know and finally, we have 9 days in Turkey, 4 days at a conference meeting Turkish Church leaders and a few days looking around some of the ancient biblical sites.

We’ve put up a few more photos for you to check out. Hope you enjoy them and are encouraged by what you read and see.

Much love

Helen and Kevin


On top of the world

2019-10-06 to 2019-10-10

Hey there from a different continent. Our time in Nepal flew by, I can’t believe it’s over already. We flew in last Sunday and found that the whole time we would be there was a festival, holiday, parties, no traffic! No people!! But we managed pretty well. The queue at Kathmandu Airport has to be about the worst we’ve experienced for a long time. More than 2 hours to fill out forms, pay for the visa and then line up for the visa. Seriously, coming here in the future I’ll try to have an online visa.

Our friends were still waiting to meet us and off we went for a whirlwind few days. Helen hasn’t been feeling 100% so she got some tests done, an experience in itself. But, everything has come back that she is OK, we’re not quite sure what’s going on. However, right now, a few days later she is feeling a lot better.

We hung out for 2 days with N and S and chatted with some of the people they are working with. One guy did more than 12 hours on a bus to come and see us. My goodness, kind of humbles you. Is there anyone I would go and visit like that!! Have to be pretty special. He’s a lovely man who works with Sowers International.

We also met a couple who are doing great work about an hour away and who want a loan to increase their business. What we most like about N is that he is developing people who are serving their communities as bi-vocational workers. They have businesses and serve the people, they don’t ask for payment or expect it. This makes them part of the community and therefore much more effective in the long term.

We continued to stay at S and N’s place but spent the next couple of days visiting with people that we’re assessing as potential partners. One group of guys is leading a training ministry that wants to develop a retreat centre as an income generator to support their work. And the other is an amazing woman from India who is married to a local and who has started a wonderful work. It’s so diverse, with so many parts to it I’m not sure  I understand half of it. She is caring for vulnerable kids and families, training people, sending people out all over Nepal and right now is setting up a farm to support their work. She already had 1,500 chickens but wants to increase that, is developing a barn to house 200 goats and later a piggery. She’s an energiser person. When she’s not in the city she’s traipsing around rural villages and if you know Nepal, that’s not that easy.

Yesterday we said goodbye and flew to Dubai and on to Cairo. So now starts 4 days of hanging out with people from a very different culture. We can’t wait to see what happens and to tell you about it.

We’re pretty weary but we’re making it. This will definitely be a last of the long trip like this. we’ll have to adapt the way we travel and that’s OK. Our team is so great and over the time we’ve been travelling this time we’ve had our team members in Madagascar, Botswana, Zambia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Uganda, and Southern India. So the work goes on and grows and now it’s time to plan more carefully what our winding down looks like. But, there’s still a lot of wonderful people to meet and catch up with. So it’s not over yet!!!

Well, it’s time for breakfast before we head to Helwan, south of Cairo for a night with our good friends there.

Much love and thanks for being with us in this.

Helen and Kevin


Will we or won't we?

2019-10-11 to 2019-10-18

Wow, what a week it’s been and we’re kind of glad that we’re almost starting the last leg of the trip. In fact, by now we should have been in Turkey with our feet up for a couple of days. But, last night rioting started in Lebanon and hundreds of fires were lit on streets and roads throughout the country. So, this morning at 5:45 am we headed off to Beirut airport to catch our plane, it’s about 1 hour to the airport from Zahle where we have been staying. We didn’t get out of town, fires on every road, black acrid smoke pouring up into the air, lights flashing….. so we went back home. We hope to get out tomorrow morning.

So, we hung around at our friend's house and just before 2:00 pm, someone came to take us to Beirut. We managed to squeeze out way out of town, we were turned back or around maybe 7 times getting out of Zahle. Once out on the open road, we thought we were good, but, no. Onto a goat track for about 15 km I guess and finally back onto a road. We were 2 cars in convoy and the driver of the other car was leading and trying to follow GPS. Many turns he took were wrong ones!! We must have gone up wrong streets 10 times before our driver said, “forget the GPS, I know the way.” And so we twisted and turned our way around the little back roads into Beirut. The good thing about burning tyres is that they are obvious from a distance so, when we saw the tell-tale plume of smoke ahead the driver would duck up another side street and go around the blockage.

The 50 km took nearly 3 hours of ducking and diving, we’re glad to be in a place to stay tonight and we’re going to try and make a dash for the airport in the morning at 6:00 am. Here’s hoping.

We had a great time in Egypt visiting our partners. So encouraging to see the work going on in Rubbish Mountain where the stench gets right through your clothes and lodges in the pores of your skin. Our hosts were wonderful and we ate like kings and queens. We spent one day and night in Helwan and then 3 nights in Heliopolis, Cairo. We hung out with the guys from Nasr City church and were able to tell them that a large donor has come on board and that they are going to be able to help a lot more people than first thought. There were plenty of smiles that night.

We also hung out with other friends and worked through some significant increases in budgets for them as well. It’s wonderful to be able to bless good people and to see them flourishing in their ministry of helping the poor become self-sustaining.

Our main reason for being in Zahle was to look at a new partnership opportunity. An amazing woman is caring for traumatised Syrian refugees. And there are tens of thousands of them. So many damaged people so messed up and it continues for them, day after day after day. We'd love to get involved, now we have to work out how.

Here we are, almost ready to head to our last destination, I wonder if we’ll get there tomorrow or not!? Whatever, we’re doing is OK and thanks for praying.

Much love


Turkey and homeward bound

2019-10-19 to 2019-10-27

Every time I write one of these blogs it’s “oh my goodness, a week has gone!” And, it’s more of the same I’m afraid. We’ve had 8 really interesting days in Turkey after escaping the tyre burning and protests in Beirut a week ago. We left a day late which caused minor hassles. Our main reason for coming to Turkey was to attend a conference at the invitation of Turkish church leaders. And our initial plan was to do a 4-day tour of the 7 churches of Asia as found in the Book of Revelations. But that tour fell through so we decided to rent a car for 4 days and do our own tour. So we arrived a day late and lost a day. We decided to drive to Pamukkale, the site of Laodicea and near to Smyrna and Sardis. The area is pretty spectacular as you’ll see in the first few photos.

We then drove 3 hours back to Kusadasi on the Aegean Sea Coast and had 2 days break before heading to Ephesus for the conference. While at the conference we had a half-day in the ruins of the city of Ephesus and very interesting place. In Pamukkale we saw the tomb of the Apostle Phillip and in Ephesus the tomb of the Apostle John. So fascinating to walk back in time and history.

The conference was very interesting, about 320 people from 46 different countries, meeting people and thinking through partnership. It was very well run and we come away with some leads to follow. We couldn’t take any photos as this is a hostile place for Christians. In the last year, 30 workers have been deported and one couple at the conference heard the day before that they had 15 days to pack up and leave. But a lot of positives as well.

So, here we sit on the tarmac in Izmir and are about to head off on a marathon trip home. New Zealand will be different when we get there, especially after the loss of the RWC rugby semi-final!! We left in Winter and more than 9 weeks later will arrive home in the middle of Spring. We’ve seen so much and next blog I’ll summarize some highlights of the trip.

We’ve kept really well on this trip and are thankful to God and for those of you who prayed for us. We don’t take it for granted. Sure we’re tired, but sleep will cure that. We can’t wait to see family again and be in familiar surroundings for a while.

We’re now at Istanbul Airport and what an impressive place it is. Opened this year and the largest capital project ever undertaken in the country. Turkey has big plans for itself in the world and is a rising power in the area.

As you will know from previous blogs, we’re planning on reducing travel even more from next year. That’s the way it’s looking thankfully. We’ll be concentrating on handing over partnerships to others and will inevitably have to reduce the exploration of new places. But, that’s for later.

Seat belts on, we’re off in less than 2 hours.

Much love

Helen and Kevin 


Up, up and away

2020-03-05

Hi friends, it's been a while!!!

After a wonderful summer, we're about to get out there again. I've put up a few pictures of our summer. We had a couple of weeks in a camper van around the East Coast of the North Island. Last time we were here was 46 years ago on our honeymoon!! 

It looks like this is going to be a year with a little less travel for us, we're looking forward to that. Tomorrow, the 5th of March, Kevin heads off to India for just over 2 weeks. He'll be visiting around the place, checking out what we can find in terms of good people making a difference in the lives of people. 

He'll be visiting Delhi and north into Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and on to Lucknow, then on to Kolkata for a few days before heading down to Bangalore. so, buckle up, we're off again. 

Helen is having a birthday while Kevin is away, so she'll be heading off to find some family to celebrate with. 

Hope you enjoy meeting the people we're about to introduce you to.

Arohanui - much love

Kevin and Helen 


In north India again

2020-03-06 to 2020-03-10

I’m sitting in a friend’s place in Barasat, north-east from Kolkota. It’s holi, the Hindu festival where they throw coloured powder all over each other. I managed to escape the barrage of paint and neatly sidestepped people wanting to put coloured dots on my forehead!

The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind. I left Auckland last Thursday afternoon and flew to Singapore. I had a few hours there and then flew on to Delhi. Both planes were pretty full, but I scored 3 seats on the second flight, popped a pill and slept for 5 of the 6 hours, what a bonus.

On arrival in Delhi, I got through all the procedures and checked into the flight to Gorakhpur. I met Wendy McCabe with whom I would be travelling the next few days and we flew together. We were met in Gorakhpur by Carol (a guy) and Guppy and for the next 3 days, we were constant companions, mostly sitting in the vehicle. Fortunately, it was a comfortable one and Guppy is a great driver.

We headed off to Bettiah, calling into Kushinaga for lunch. This is the place that Buddha died and was cremated. Many Buddhist nations have little embassies here, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and the like. It’s pretty basic but thousands every year make a pilgrimage there from all around the world. Then on to Bettiah where stayed in the Jolly Grand Hotel, 3 hours from Gorakhpur to Bettiah. Only marginally jolly would be a better description. Bihar is a dry State and on signing into the hotel we had to sign that we wouldn’t drink alcohol. I don’t know where we would get it from, but, kind of interesting. Not that they don’t make their own brews of course!

The next morning we visited a large Christian school that has 3,200 students and is regarded as the best school in the district. Recent years they have achieved 100% pass rates in State exams. It’s a shining light in a pretty dark area. After breakfast at the hotel and a visit from a mouse with our breakfast, we headed off to the Nepal border where there is a ministry base among the Tharu people, another 3 hours. They are tribal people across the Indi-Nepal border area. It’s very remote and by the end, we were just driving through a riverbed. It would be hard to get more remote in India I think. But, a lovely couple is there trying to be catalysts for change. It’s tough going. After a lovely lunch and lots of talking we headed off again on the 4 hours journey to Gorakhpur, which turned into 6 hours and some of the worst mud I’ve ever had to drive through. Until we got to the Uttar Pradesh border and we were back on great roads again.

We didn’t get in until after 9, the roads are a death trap. There are hundreds of tractors on the roads in that area with large trailers piled high with sugar cane. And of course, no lights. Helen would have been a cot case had she been with me. It took a while to find the hotel, ah, horizontal at last. I didn’t know until morning, but after 11 pm the hotel people came to Carol’s room saying that they had to inform the local health authorities that a new arrival to India was in town and that I would have to stay until the health team could come and test me for coronavirus. Fortunately, Carol said I was fine and because we had written that we had travelled from a local place, they decided not to report me.

After breakfast we hit the road for Nawabganj, the mission base we near to Ayodhya. Ayodhya is one of the holiest places in Hinduism, the birthplace of lord Ram. We passed through it with huge ghats along the river and hundreds of people camping in the river bed. It took about 3 hours and I spent the next 24 hours listening to stories of remarkable men and women missionaries and meeting many people who were their legacy. Wendy was married to Ian, the third generation of remarkable people in this area. Sadly, Ian died just a year before in his early 50s. he had plans, energy to implement them and probably the contacts to fund it both within India and internationally. But now, that’s all gone. So, what next? That was the question we were grappling with.

Ian’s fingerprints and those of his ancestors were all over the 3 locations and now, Indian leaders are going to have to pick up the baton. My task was to assess if there was a role there for us and if yes, doing what? That is going to take some time.

Yesterday we drove another 3 hours to Lucknow, Wendy caught a plane back south, I stayed the night and today flew to Kolkota. Tomorrow, the next adventure begins.

Wash your hands for 20 seconds and ...... relax.

Kevin and Helen


COVID-19 lockdown

2020-03-16 to 2020-06-09

Last time you heard from us, Kevin was in India and was trying to get home because of the onset of coronavirus. He got out in time and got back to NZ in time to beat the original deadline. But a couple of days later we were told to self-isolate anyway. Then came more than 4 weeks of lockdown so we had about 6 weeks of being together day in, day out. We survived it! It is really nice to be coming out the other end of it.

The way things are heading, it’s not likely we’ll be travelling again this year. So, we cancelled 2020! But what now? To be frank, we’ve been busier than ever with all the contact with partners and many zoom meetings. In fact, this morning between 1:30 to 2:30 I was talking to a group of Christians in India. A few things to note:

Bright Hope World (BHW) made an appeal to help our partners with the onset of COVID-19. Many generous people gave and for the last 6 weeks, we have been working at distributing these funds.

Many of our partners are still really struggling. The virus is still raging out there and it is far from over. They are finding many people who are desperate. We constantly hear the phrase “that the response to the virus is far worse than the virus.” I’m not sure that’s true, but many people are struggling to survive. Our partners are going out to help whoever they can. Some have become infected in the process. Many stories coming out of this, check out the BHW website for stories from Indonesia, India, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Pakistan and others.

One of the issues our partners face is that while there is great poverty and need right now, the long-term view is very bleak. I hate to say it but, probably all of the micro-fund programmes we have supported have collapsed. Those operating them have had to survive and have eaten their capital. What option did they have? So, we’re keeping some funds back to try and reboot those who have potential. We’ve had many zoom meetings about this to pray and decide where to apply the funds. 

We’ve been able to commence some new partnerships during this time. A bakery is getting underway in DR Congo to support the deaf community and some Christian workers. A grocery shop is starting in Burundi to support a key family and we’ve begun to support a ministry to refugee mothers and their new-born babies in Lebanon. It’s great to work with people who possess such tenacity.

We’re pushing the boundaries to see if there are opportunities to travel later in the year or as soon as possible. There are a few places it would be great to get to as quickly as possible. But, we’re at the mercy of many other people’s decisions and who knows when borders will open? However, our partners are very resilient and they are coping very well. They are suffering, but they are coping and in the process are helping others.

On the local front, we’ve become a little more involved in our local church as we’ve had a bit more time on our hands. Kevin has spoken a few times at the online services. We’ve become part of a zoom group that is starting to reach out to our own community. Helen has been really busy communicating with a group of women in a number of countries and here in New Zealand. Our whole family has kept well through this period of the pandemic. We’ve also been able to do some walks in our local area. We’ve included a few photos of a recent walk at Sullivan’s Bay.

And now, we’re able to meet our family again. Kevin’s mother is 91 and she’s doing great. We’ve been down to visit Sara and Karl and played with Coco, what fun we’ve had. Our “baby” Sara turned 40 during the lockdown and we all missed the party. Karl also had a birthday which we missed. We’ve been able to catch up with Jared, Ruth and family. Hugo and Joel have been to stay with us in level 2 lockdown and Joel had his 7th birthday, another one we missed.

So now, the new normal looms, what does that look like? There are lots of unanswered questions still. The world is a different place than is was a few months ago. We’re flexible and God is still in control. Our partners are great and serving harder than ever.

Thanks for your ongoing support and encouragement.

We’re committed to continuing the mission with BHW, we’re so encouraged by the way God is at work.

Much love

Kevin and Helen.


New Normal

2020-08-27 to 2020-08-29

I’m not going to mention the word that’s on everyone’s lips! You know the one? Go on, you do, it means crown, but in this case, it has nothing to do with anything good or noble.

Anyway, we thought it would be a good idea, even though we’re not travelling this year to let you know what we’re up to and put up a few photos of what our partners are doing. We’ve been pretty full-on since Kevin had to hurriedly return from India back in March. We wonder how we ever had time to travel and be out of the country for months at a time.

Since March we’ve had 6 weeks of self-isolation and stage 4 lockdown, then we were allowed out again for a couple of months, but for almost the last 3 weeks in Auckland we’ve been in Level 3 lockdown meaning and we can’t get out and about until Monday. But, as I said, there’s plenty going on, like:

If you like it, please share it with your friends and in your network?

On the trip to Christchurch, we also drove down the North Island visiting people on the way down and back, taking a few meetings and visiting some of our team members. It was great to catch up with so many and be able to share what God is doing in the world.

Kevin had 2 cousins die in the period between lockdowns and we were able to get to both funerals. Life doesn’t stop just because there’s a pandemic does it.

Violence hasn’t taken a break -militia groups don’t social distance. Poverty hasn’t gone into lockdown – in fact, many, many more people are staring poverty in the face. Domestic violence and abuse haven’t gone into self-isolation. Christian people are still in the minority in many places and don’t qualify for government or NGO aid. There is still much to do to bring hope, Good News and development.

For most of our partners, the response to the you-know-what has been very hard. How do you socially distance in a 10m2 single room that has 6 or 10 people living in it? We’re hearing some stories of death but many more stories of people recovering and reports of resilience and people coming to faith.

Yesterday I received a message from one of our partners who had just spent 5 days in jail with 5 of his team members and he says “I’m excited that because of the detention the church here and it's works have become known at a higher level.” That’s the way it often is, isn’t it? When we’re in the midst of an issue, a problem or a difficult circumstance we don’t see the purpose. But when we look back, it’s 20/20 vision and it becomes clearer. That’s why we need patience, resilience and trust.

And in the midst of it all, hope springs up. And for us who know Jesus, we’ve read the last chapter of the book, haven’t we? “He’s got the whole world, in his hands.” No matter what the new normal looks like.

I’ve thrown in a few pictures that have come in in recent times for our partners. Talking about photos, we’ve spent some time in lockdown going through photos and scanning the ones we want to keep. It’s been such fun, some tears and many memories. I’ve put a few of them up as well. We’re also holding some back as incriminating evidence, some of you should be very afraid!!

Much love

Kevin and Helen


more than a year has passed

2020-09-01 to 2021-10-11

For almost half a year we were free of COVID in New Zealand, and then delta arrived. And for the past 8 weeks or more, Auckland has been in lockdown, unable to go anywhere with a slight easing of restrictions a week ago. It’s pretty frustrating, especially as we see the rest of the world getting up a running again. Oh, how we would love to be traveling again. Well, not the travel actually, I fear that’s going to be a bit of a nightmare as we begin to venture out again.

Of course, our situation is nothing like that of many of our partners. One of the issues in many developing countries is that COVID is just another issue on top of many others just as dangerous or life-threatening.

We’ve been keeping an eye on many of the difficult parts of the work where our partners live and serve. In particular, we’ve been talking, thinking, praying, zooming, and reporting on Myanmar (the double impact of COVID and coup has been terrible,) Lebanon (the economy has completely tanked,) Afghanistan (so much fear there for Christians and women,) India (with strict anti-conversion laws introduced as well as the delta virus.) Of course, there are others as well, D R Congo, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan are still hard places for various reasons as well as COVID.

Helen and I are really well. We’re missing contact with the children and grandies although we did manage to have a “picnic” with them yesterday. With the latest rules around COVID, we’re allowed to meet outside, at a distance. We’ve also been able to zoom a bit and that’s a lot of fun. We’re in a bubble with Kevin’s sister and her husband who live in the same building and with Kevin’s mum who is 92. She lives nearby and is recovering from a nasty gash on her leg and a broken arm.

We’ve both become more involved in our local church. Helen is involved with Mainly Music and also helps with English conversation at a local library. Kevin is involved with a guy’s group and with the elders of the church until we can travel again and we’re leading the Global Missions Team.

Of course, the lockdown hasn’t stopped the work where our partners live. They report many deaths, great opportunities, long periods of inactivity, many more people falling below the poverty line, and great hardship. It’s going to take a long time for many to get back on their feet. However, we’re very confident that most of our partners will continue to do what they can to help people flourish. Here are a couple of recent snippets from partners:

Despite COVID, we have been able to start several new partnerships. It’s amazing where the new opportunities are coming from. It’s a God thing. It seems like our network is almost large enough now to be self-generating new opportunities. That’s a great situation to be in. Here is a sample of new partnerships:

I would love to go on, but these are little snapshots of what we’ve been working on through COVID. We meet regularly with the Christchurch-based team. We’ve had to cancel the most recent trip to Christchurch and to Nelson to hang out with the team there. Fraser Scott from the BHW office and Kevin have started a podcast. If you want something to do have a listen. Check out “It Ain’t That Simple Mate,” on any of the usual platforms.

Before the latest lockdown, we were able to visit some of our team, speak to a few groups and visit some donors. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we can get out there again.

We’re really encouraged by what God continues to do out there in the crazy old world we’re living in. The lost are still lost and need to be found. Those living in the darkness of poverty need the lights turned on and those suffering the bondage of false religion need to be released. And that’s what’s happening, day after day, one life at a time. Thousands of them.

And that’s what you guys are investing in with your support. We are so encouraged that you’re still part of the team that sees this happening. Thank you, we couldn’t do it without you. It’s so cool to be on the team with God and with you.

We’re thinking that we won’t be traveling much before June/July next year. So, we’re starting to think about what that might look like. Even before we stopped, we were working a year ahead preparing trips. There are still so many unknowns but we need to be ready when we get the green light.

I've put in a few photos from our partners, enjoy. 

Much love

Kevin and Helen.


A new phase of life

2022-07-20

Hi friends,

This weekend we’ve been busy with church activities and today Kevin had a couple of injections as travel is again on the agenda. We’ve not been able to travel as we did in the past, so we’ve got more involved in local church life. But now, as we begin the next phase of life, travel looms large. And soon!

Helen has been involved with a weekly Bible study and a ministry to the mothers of little children and Kevin has been leading a men’s study and helping with church leadership. Both of us are involved with the Global Mission Team as well. But now our thoughts and hearts turn again to other parts of the world.

We were blessed over the New Zealand summer to get out and about and see some of New Zealand. Friends loaned us their camper van, we went to Stewart Island with family and we looked around our back yard, Auckland. I've included a few photos. 

Actually, it’s not like we haven’t been involved out there, just not able to go. Recent involvement saw us in Christchurch for a week with our team catching up on each other and making plans. We’ve been to a church in Waihi, about 2 ½ hours from home to speak and 3 weeks ago to Manurewa in South Auckland, an hour from here to visit and speak at another church.

As well as this, life goes on out in the places where our partners live. In the last few weeks we’ve been dealing with and writing reports about two partners in Zimbabwe, two in Nepal, one in South Africa, two in Lebanon, one in Jordan, two in Egypt, two in Pakistan and so on. Along with that we’ve been able to start a sewing programme for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, two projects in Pakistan for rural women, two water projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a teenage mother vocational training programme in Rwanda and a vocational training centre in Assiut in Egypt. This coming week we have calls to partners in Uganda, the USA and India.

The exciting news is that we’re finalising the planning of two trips this year and working on several in 2023. The first one starts in 2 days when Kevin heads off for 3 weeks: a week in Tanzania sorting out a rogue partnership; a week in Rwanda visiting the new project and visiting the D R Congo border in two places to meet partners from the DRC and then a week in Armenia visiting our partners there.

The second trip we’re planning will see us both heading off to Egypt for almost three weeks where we’ll meet all our partners and have two donors come in as well. Then it’s a week in Uganda checking out new opportunities and meeting some of our team. Following that Helen will come home and Kevin will head to Ethiopia to check out a new partnership and an existing one. We’ll keep you up to date with those.

Next year looks full on in terms of travel. It’s looking like India in January, South East Asia and Southern Africa in June/July with one between them and another at the end of the year. So, seat belts on, it’s about to get rough!

A significant part of the travel will be to hand over our partnerships to other people, we call them facilitators. We can’t keep overseeing all the partners we’re currently working with, we don’t have the capacity or the years left!! And we’ve “lost” 2 ½ years of doing that, we’re kind of in catch-up mode for the next couple of years. We’re excited about all this with a little bit of trepidation mixed in. It’s a new world out there, what will it be like, what will be different? It feels like we're newbies again at this travel gig! 

At home, we’ve got some changes coming up too. Kevin’s mum who is 93 has come to live with us in our home. She has her own little apartment, but she’s under the same roof. It’s great to be able to care for her as she struggles with age and immobility. Our kids are doing well, we love hanging out with them and grabbing whatever opportunity we can with their busy lives. The grandchildren are so much fun to hang out with.

A bit of a heads up about communicating with you. We’ve had a blog for many years but more recently we used Facebook to let people know about our blog and all that. However, with more restrictions in some countries, especially India, we have to be more careful about what we say about why we travel, who we’re visiting and what we’re doing. So, we’re going to use Facebook less, especially Kevin. We’ll probably just put out a note on Facebook without any photos or text with a link to the blog and you’ll need to go there to read it.

Thanks for your ongoing interest and support, we so value it and your friendship.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Back in Africa

2022-07-31

Hi friends,

I have no idea where to start with this. I intended to have written already but, no excuses, having such a good holiday!! How does that sound?

To be frank, the first few days did feel a bit like a holiday. I got to Dar es Salaam with no hassles at all. Travel seemed pretty much as before apart from a couple of extra health checks. But we are used to that. On my 2nd to-last trip in 2019, I was in D R Congo (DRC) in the middle of an Ebola outbreak. This was nothing like that.

Anyway, I got to Dar on Thursday the 21st of July and on Friday morning had a meeting with Water Mission (WM.) We’ve been trying to get a water project going in a village about 4 hours from Dar and it’s proving to be extremely difficult from a distance. It’s already cost a bomb but it’s a lemon. If WM can’t do it for us I think we’ll have to walk away. The guy said he’d contact me on Monday, so I had the whole weekend to fill in. I was tempted to go over to Zanzibar but, I was thinking that you’d think I really was on holiday so shelved that idea. I was really tired after the 19-hour flight from Auckland to Dubai (incl 2 hours on the ground on the plane in Kuala Lumpur,) 5 hours in Dubai airport and then another 5 hours to Dar. So, I did a fair amount of sleeping, reading, praying and eating. A bit of talking too, there were a couple of hard case guys staying at the hotel. I’ll put up a couple of photos to show you I wasn’t on holiday, even though it felt like it.

Monday – Wednesday last week was pretty much waiting and disappointment. Robert, our partner who told us about this opportunity and who lives in Zanzibar came and we hung out. We talked, caught up on the past 3 years, talked some more and then got the news that WM might still be interested but the cost to do the project would be huge, over $US100,000. The dilemma:

So, waste of time? Probably not if we’re able to get a clear understanding and take decisive action.

So, on Wednesday, after a final meeting with WM I headed to the airport with Robert. He flew to Zanzibar and I flew to Kigali in Rwanda. The late leaving plane meant that I finally got to my accommodation late with only one thing left to do, sleep.

I spent the next 2 days with a lovely family. They have with a few others feel compelled to do something about all the teen mums living on the streets of Kigali. We began supporting their dream early this year having visited previously in 2019. I met with a group of 15 teen mums with heartbreaking stories. Many things stick with me. One said, “if I don’t have sex with a man, I can’t feed my kid.” Another 17-year-old, 8-month pregnant girl was in tears as she told about living on the street and being forced into many sexual encounters. She has no idea who the father is, and she is afraid for her life and that of her baby as she’s still on the streets.

We discussed strategies for the future, how we grow this partnership and some next steps. There are some options emerging.

You can read more if you sign up for the Bright Hope World newsletter or go online and read reports. Getting this one online will take a while, but there’s plenty else to look at.

I’m writing this from the town of Gisenyi on Lake Kivu. It’s right on the border with DRC. I came on the bus yesterday and am here for 2 nights. This afternoon a potential partner from Goma in the DRC is coming to meet me to discuss a partnership. He represents many opportunities and I met him in 2019, the last time I was there. It’s too dangerous to go into this part of DRC at present. There are dozens of rebel groups wreaking havoc, randomly attacking and bombing and there’s a lot of tension between Rwanda and Congo. These people frequently come over the border, it’s only 30 minutes away from where he lives.

Anyway, that’s enough about my holiday. It’s been good to be able to connect with Helen most mornings and chat. I’ll be in touch again when I leave Africa in a few days and tell you about some of the other people I meet. Enjoy some of the photos of my holiday!

Much love

Kevin 


on the way to Armenia

2022-08-04

Hi friends,

I’m sitting on a plane from Rwanda to Dubai and just as I started this our descent commenced. No need for masks on this Rwandair flight, only a few are wearing them. I’ve been stretched out across 4 seats and was able to catch about 3 hours of sleep, a bonus.

Obviously, I didn’t finish this on the plane and right now I’m in Dubai for 24 hours before heading off to Armenia. I thought I’d get a short update out while I’ve got internet and some time.

I left off in Gisenyi waiting for a potential partner to come over from Goma in the Democratic Republic (DRC). They arrived and we spent some time talking about the situation in the DRC and what they are doing to ease the pain and serve people. It was pretty inspiring I have to admit. It gave me a lot to think about and now process. I would love to partner with these people, but we’ll have to wait and see what develops in the next little while. They had to get back to the border by 2:00 pm as it closes at 3:00 and sometimes there’s a queue.

Monday I caught an early bus back to Kigali and was back in my digs before 1:00 pm. That gave me time to catch up on some washing and sort out luggage for the flight the next day. I also had a meeting with my Kigali friends and hatched up some more plans. They have a particular gift for doing that.

Early Tuesday I headed to the airport and caught a 30-minute flight to Kamembe, on the DRC border near the city of Bukavu. What a beautiful place it is. The view from my hotel room was spectacular as some will have seen from the photos I put up on Facebook. I spent more than 4 hours with another partner from Bukavu who has completed a number of projects with the help of BHW. I’m not sure if I’ve got hope or if I'm depressed after listening to him. What a tough place to do ministry. Could you ever do enough to break the cycles of abuse and corruption? I’m not sure I can answer that. But we can help a few and hope that out of the few, some will rise up with a different mindset and the courage to tackle the systemic evil. If you go to the BHW website you’ll see an article I wrote about Paulin in the latest bi-monthly Newsletter.

While in Kamembe I got a message from our friends in Kigali saying that on Tuesday morning, the bus I was on the day before had crashed and the driver and 2 passengers were killed. It reminded me how dangerous road travel is, by far the most dangerous thing we do.

I caught the plane back to Kigali Wednesday morning and spent the day writing, talking and planning. My lovely hosts George and Jemima gave me some lovely gifts and then took me to the airport.

And here I am. It was 36o C when I got off the plane at 8:30 and it’s much hotter now, I know, I went for a 10-minute walk outside and came back half baked. Well, l that’s nothing new they all said! I’ll leave now before they throw something at me.

Enjoy the photos.

Much love

Kevin


Armenia - pretty depressing

2022-08-05 to 2022-08-09

Hi friends,

I’m on the last day of this trip, heading home tomorrow from Armenia. I leave at 2:00 am tomorrow morning - 4 hours to Dubai – 5 hours on the ground there – 13 ½ hours to Melbourne – an hour and a half on the ground to change planes and then 3 ½ hours to Auckland. The plan is to knock myself out on the Dubai – Melbourne leg!

Armenia, what a depressing place. To be fair, some parts of the centre of Yerevan are booming and no one seems to know how! But I’ve not been there yet, I’ve been out into two smaller cities, Vanadzor and Gyumri. There’s not much flourishing out there. And the people we’ve been visiting are as poor and down as it’s possible to imagine.

This trip has driven home to me something we think about at Bright Hope World. Poverty is not just an economic thing. It has its roots in broken relationships and in every family I’ve met that understanding has been confirmed. Yesterday this was epitomised by Gohar’s situation. She is a single mum with three children. Two of them are seriously sick and in need of medical attention. Gohar herself is not well and they live in a small room infested with mould that makes breathing very difficult. You can smell the mould before you enter the two-room hovel. At 18, he was forced into marriage by her parents to a brutal, violent man. She lasted 8 years before she had to get out. She had been bashed and with 23 stitches in her head and 3 little kids she left. But now she’s in constant crisis and very vulnerable as she attempts to survive and feed her kids. Broken relationship with her parents first and then with her husband, what hope for Gohar? There’s a picture of her and her kids and her “house.” Look and weep.

A group of us went to visit here and see what could be done. She was in tears that someone would want to come into her house and show her love. The poverty is palpable and assaults all the senses. You cannot help but be moved and how do you not do something about it? I’ll need to think about this one.

I’ve been with a team of 9 people here. I landed in Yerevan on Friday morning and was whisked from the airport to a meeting with about 60 people and then on to a camp with some youngsters. They are pretty much like kiwi kids, full of mischief and energy!

The next morning we hopped on a bus and headed off to the city of Vanadzor where we hung out with 25 families we are involved with. Lots of food, seems to be the theme of this trip. We then visited a couple of families and headed off to the city of Gyumri where we stayed for 2 nights. Another restaurant in the evening, this time Syrian food at the Aleppo restaurant.  Ate at 9:30 pm and bed at midnight. Pretty bushed.

Anyway, the next day was food, church and writing and more food! Man, these guys can eat.

Yesterday we met Gohar and another family and drove back to Yerevan. It was a quiet, 2-hour journey after the visit with Gohar. The main man I’m with is so frustrated by the mindset of the men here. They are violent and abusive and their attitude to women is appalling. Last night he was very passionate about it and fuming.

I’ll finish by talking about the team members. I’ve included a photo of us all standing in front of a white van. Starting from right to left as you look at it:

Edmon is an Armenian guy who was born in Syria but who now lives in The Netherlands. He’s a church pastor and he’s visited here a few times before. He also travels to places like Sudan, Egypt, Morocco and has friends in Yemen. Beside him is his mother. She’s originally from Syria but escaped in 2012 to live with another son in Germany. This is the first visit she has made to Armenia ever and it’s interesting watching her, she doesn’t know a lot of her mother tongue. She’s a lovely woman, 74 years old.

Next are Hratsh and Clara Kuijian, the leaders and instigators of the Armenian Christian Mission. They are Armenian, Hratsh was born in Egypt and Clara in Iran and they live in Sydney, Australia. They love their people and want the best for them. They have been visiting regularly and packing containers of stuff in Australia and sending to support poor families here for the past 26 years.

Then yours truly and beside me 3 people from an Australian family, Bronwyn and Robert and between them their son Steven. They’ve taken an interest in Armenia and visited several times.

Beside them is Dr Daniel James, a medical doctor from Australia, originally from Singapore. He’s been coming here regularly for years. It’s good to have a doctor on the team, the amount of illness you come across is appalling and he’s been able to help and get the right stuff for people. You can buy drugs here across the counter for a minuscule amount compared to home.

So, I’m spending the day trying to finish writing things up. The next time you hear from me I’ll hopefully be home. Helen tells me she’s doing OK and a little hesitant about me coming home to mess up her ordered lifestyle!! Not.

Much love

Kevin


Back to the north of Africa

2022-09-25 to 2022-09-26

So, Kevin survived the last trip and got back in one piece and luggage too! Since getting back 6 weeks ago it’s been pretty full on. Catching up with family, reports and local church life have taken up our time along with preparations for the next trip which starts tomorrow.

On the family front, my mother has shifted into our house to live with us. We live in a family house that has 3 apartments in it. My sister and her husband live in one part, we live in another and now mum lives in the ground floor apartment. It’s nice having her around so we can see more of her. Our youngest granddaughter just had her 9th birthday which we missed as there was illness in their house – not covid! Last night Kevin went with Jared our son and his two boys to watch the All Blacks play in Auckland and win the rugby championship by beating the Wallabies.

The last trip created several opportunities for us in Rwanda and the D R Congo and we’ve been able to start new partnerships. They include more water projects for communities, training women to help them recover from sexual violence and trauma and an advocacy programme to attempt to deal with injustice from police, army personnel and politicians. I’m really interested in observing this as it’s always risky to confront the powers that be, especially the corrupt ones.

Now we’re focusing on the next 5 weeks of meeting partners and travelling with donors in 3 countries. First, we head to Egypt for almost 3 weeks with our amazing partners and some donors as well who are coming in to meet our partners. We’ll spend most of the time around Cairo with trips to Assiut and Luxor too.

Then it’s a week in Uganda. We’re checking out several new partnerships and meeting with most of our Uganda partners. It will be great after so long to see them again. Helen is particularly looking forward to seeing some of her good friends again as it’s 3 years since she has been able to get out there.

After Uganda Helen comes home and Kevin goes to Ethiopia. During covid, we started a new partnership there and it will be great to head out to visit what’s going on and see it first-hand. There’s the possibility of going to Gondar in the north, but there is unrest up there and we’ll need to make a call at the time.

One of the great bonuses of trips like this is that we get to travel with some of our BHW colleagues. On this trip, we’ll meet up with Gordon Stewart in Egypt and then in Uganda with Matt O’Byrne and John Vlaming. There’s usually a fair amount of banter over meals and as we travel together.

We’ll keep you informed about what’s going on as we move about and introduce you to some of the people we meet. It’s time to head off to bed, it’s a big day tomorrow.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Around Cairo

2022-09-27 to 2022-10-02

Oh boy, 10 days have passed already and I’m late with this update. We travelled OK from Auckland to Cairo, we slept well on the leg to Kuala Lumpur despite the mask and cramped seats. We got into Cairo and to the apartment, we’re based in it till we leave on the 14th. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind. It’s unusually hot, though yesterday it cooled off a bit. Let me tell you something about our time in Egypt up to now.

After picking up our kiwi colleague Gordon Stewart we spent a day with our friend N and drove out to a refugee Centre in 6th October City. A fantastic group of people there serving about 4,000 families from Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and a few others. Gave out a bunch of school bags to kids starting school on Sunday. It’s the beginning of the new school year. Hear lots of stories about what they’re doing and the desperate needs of these people. 6th October City is the UN base in Egypt and there are almost half a million refugees here in the process of being sent somewhere else. We came back to Nathan’s for lunch around 3 pm, chicken and kofta!!

The next day we picked up a team of 4 donors from Scotland and spent time with N and S at the vocational training centre. We hung out, met some of the participants in 3 training programmes that were finishing that day and had lunch. Then out to visit the Cave Church – a bit disappointing now. We’ve been there too many times!! Out for dinner with the Scottish team.

The next day we travelled south for about an hour to visit a partner working with people who collect rubbish from the streets. Their community was totally wiped out by floods, several were killed and most of them lost everything. Their ministry base was wiped out so they have had to totally rethink how they serve these poor people. We went and saw the carnage and the alternative accommodation built for them which no one can afford and then hung out with S and P and had a wonderful time. And food! Poverty is still very confronting, we interviewed some of the families S a P work with. Then back to Cairo and off to meet another donor from the US, John S. Settled him into his hotel and then back to the flat to sleep. Jet lag is hanging on for grim death.

We spent the next day hanging with John S and Gordon and catching up after 3 years. Meeting face-to-face makes such a difference. A little incident - We got out of the Uber at the hotel and I was shuffling around in my pocket for cash to pay and my phone must have dropped. We got out of the taxi and went to security when I realised it was missing, probably only 30 seconds, but the car was gone. How do we contact him now, all the info and my credit card were in the car. I quickly rang my number on Helen’s phone and the driver picked up, phew. I found a concierge in the lobby and he spoke to the driver and asked him to come back, which he did, phew again. It would have been a major issue without it. The advantage of both of us having a local cell phone number and a blessing was the volume was up on my phone, it often isn’t!! That evening we went to N and S’s for dinner with their family, great time reconnecting.

Sunday was a biggie. We visited the vocational training centre in the morning and met with some of the women they work with. Helen spent about 3 hours talking to them and praying with them while the men had coffee and interviewed some loan beneficiaries. Then it was across to Nasr City Church, which supports people with emergencies. They also have a loan programme we’ll visit later in the week. After a quick lunch and meeting with the team, we headed out into the poorer areas of Cairo and visited some of their people. Oh dear: a young man who lost his leg in an accident and who is very angry – his wife works but uses all the money herself; a 19-year-old girl with many health challenges; a mother and son in huge conflict and debts, and a young man who had severe burns from a work accident. Hard stuff.  Then back to the flat for a wash and off to church across town at which Kevin had to speak. Back home about 10, dead!

At 6 am the following morning we headed off to the city of Assiut, but that’s for another day. We’re keeping well and finally getting some sleep. So much to see and process. Every hour we’re not out with partners we’re having to write and record what’s going on. But it’s so good to be back out here again.

Lots of love to you and thanks for your messages of care and concern and prayers,

Helen and Kevin


Listening to stories

2022-10-03 to 2022-10-06

Last time I left you hanging. We’d been to Upper Egypt around the city of Assiut. It was a full-on time up there. It’s funny, Upper Egypt is south of Cairo but up!. Anyway, we, Helen and I, Gordon Stewart and John Stanley plus our partners N and P headed off at 6 am last Monday. 6 hours later we were in Assiut. Sounds easy but for much of that trip and the rest of our time till we got back to Cairo, there were several frustrating moments, mainly because of the Police. We understand their dilemma, Westerners in rural Egypt, who knows how people will react. They are especially worried about Americans and we had one with us. We were constantly stopped and followed and had a police guard overnight where we stayed. On the second day as we visited a local church, there were 8 armed Police, CID and army personnel! I think Helen was really the problem!

Anyway, on arrival on Monday, we dropped off our luggage and headed off to a group we began partnering with earlier this year. They are a totally impressive group of people with a clear vision and some impressive strategies. We spent an hour listening to them talk about their hopes and dreams. This was very helpful as it helped us get on the same page and to understand their values and motivation. There are several components to their community development strategy which we’re involved with: medical work – an impressive clinic at which about 70 doctors volunteer time to provide high quality, very cheap service; the development of educational centres in rural villages – currently they have 2 with about 1,000 kids served each week and plans to add another each year for the next 5 years and vocational training in sewing – this has developed into a sewing business – not yet making money but here are plans for that and opportunity for investment in it. There’s a lot to like here and I think we’ll be here again! Despite the police escort!

We then had lunch, 3:30 pm, well more than lunch, more than enough food for us plus the whole Assiut Police force! P’s father used to be the key guy in this partnership, but he died of covid in Feb this year. Now P and his brother A are leaders here. His mother prepared the lunch/feast for us. After this we went back to the place we were staying and had a meeting with another partner, they shared how the loan programme was developing, and we met some of the beneficiaries the next day. It was hot in Assiut, high 30’s and not much cooler at night.

Tuesday was a huge day, not just physically but emotionally as well. We left at 8 am and spent about an hour with a Coptic priest in Assiut, He’s a good friend of N. He’s got a house at which he and his volunteer ladies cook food and distribute it to 350 people, 6 days a week. It’s also going to be a short-term accommodation centre for poor people who have to come to town for medical reasons but have nowhere to stay. He’s such a lovely man and the kofta they were making was just amazing. Helen got right into it, literally.

After that, we travelled north from Assiut into rural Egypt. This is the poorest part of the country and where the bulk of Egyptian Christians live. One of our partners has many loans in this area. We were going to spend 2 days visiting several locations, however, the security detail made it much too difficult. So we cut it back to one location, cut a day out of the trip and only got to visit 3 families. However, the loans are making a huge difference in the lives of the people: a woman with 5 kids has bought a sewing machine and now she is able to educate her kids and is so happy with the outcome; a crippled young man bought some goats, now he has more and more are on the way and finally, a young woman who is unusually small and unlikely to marry has a buffalo – she’ll sell it soon and make a large profit, buy another small one and make a good income. Her father had broken his leg and was not able to stand.

Pastor W’s wife laid on an amazing meal for us. Egyptian hospitality and food are amazing in vast quantities. We had chicken in 2 ways, rice, potatoes, salads and pigeon, heaps of pigeons, rice stuffed pigeons! First time for us. Actually, they were pretty nice.

Then it was the drive back to Cairo. It should have taken 5 hours but closer to 7 with the police training us, changing cars every so often and of course, wanting assistance. That night we crashed.

Wednesday and Thursday we quieter days, time to catch up, write, washing and talk with Gordon about the Middle East Partnerships. He’s off to Lebanon soon so we went over them all. Then, another dinner, which was of the finest quality, was at a Yemeni restaurant in New Cairo. Have we ever tasted better meats? Hard to imagine it would be possible. And so much of it too. Very kind of our partners to treat us as a thank you.

Thursday we had a nice surprise. It was a holiday, Egypt National Day and the start of a long weekend. Gordon left us for Jordan and N, our major partner in Egypt to us from Cairo to his brother’s place near to Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea. We spent a lovely time on the beach and in the water with our partners and their daughter and her husband. Oh, another great meal of fish.

It seems like this is becoming a food blog. However, it’s not, but it would be impossible to come to the Middle East without talking about the food. Come guys, give us a break!! This has taken too many words, but there is so much to tell. I’ll stop now and catch up again early next week as there will be a little less interesting activity in the next few days. Unless you like report writing and eating. Oh, some other stuff too.

Thanks for following along, enjoy the photos!

Much love

Helen and Kevin 


Last week in Egypt

2022-10-07 to 2022-10-15

Oops, more than a week behind, I’ll get you up to date in this blog, I promise. I’m writing from Entebbe in Uganda.

Last Friday we spent the day with partners from Nasr City church visiting several people who have received loans for small businesses. The church has 2 teams, last week we visited those in need of emergency funding and this week it was those getting help from the revolving fund they operate.  

The first visit was to a guy who had purchased tonnes of random cloth offcuts from sewing factories and with his wife and another relative was sorting them into their respective colours, one piece at a time! He then sells it and the colour is stripped out and used for stuffing and other things I didn’t understand. What a laborious job in a dingy place. But he’s happy and making quite a good income, and able to live much better than before.

Then we met a lovely woman with very active faith and a beaming smile. She had a very clear vision for her family. She got a loan and rented a building and raises 200 chickens at a time. She’s done it 6 times now and her family is thriving. She’s so positive.

Then another woman and a hair salon. She used a loan to refurbish and tidy up her place and now she gets a lot more customers and more who have the money to pay. It’s a great help to her family, her daughter now works with her. They have been able to befriend many Mu$lim people and pray with them, it’s become a ministry centre.

We swung past the little local church where there was a kid's programme underway with 70 kids. It’s Friday, the weekend. We then visited 2 grocery stores. The first was a family whose 15 years old son, a twin was killed a few years ago and it ruined them financially. Now they are doing OK and progressing. One of the sisters in the business is a sewer and supplements the grocery by sewing for local people. The second was a guy with a hole-in-the-wall grocery, small but growing.

It was good to see the improvements in the families and how this lift in economic strength also increases the faith and commitment to the church. then it was back to church and a huge Syrian chicken meal and a debrief about the partnership which runs for a couple more years.

On Saturday morning we met John Stanley at his hotel and worked through our relationship and funding for the next year in Egypt, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. They are such a generous church, Chase Oaks, Plano, Texas. We then took a Uber to Maadi to spend the rest of the day with our friends Samy, Phoebe, and family. John got a shuttle to the airport and back to Texas.

Early Sunday morning Helen and I headed off to the airport and flew to Luxor. We had 3 days and 3 nights relaxing by the pool, we went to a light show one night in the Karnak Temple and early on Tuesday morning did a hot air balloon ride above the Valley of the Kings. Spectacular on such a beautiful morning. It was so good to have a couple of days off. It meant that when we got back to Cairo we could maximise the 3 days there processing all we’d seen and writing a heap of reports. It’s great to leave a country with almost all the reports written.

It was sad to say goodbye to our lovely friends in Cairo, they have been so kind to us. They’re doing such a great job serving the most vulnerable. Impacting so many people, changing the lives and futures of so many families. We’re proud to be associated with them.

This has been the longest time we’ve spent in Egypt. We had a lot of catching up to do, it’s 3 years since we were last here. So much has happened and the impact of covid and now the war in Ukraine has been severe in Egypt. New partnerships have commenced and now we have at least 3 more to consider.

It was great to use up our remaining data last night on the way out of Egypt and talk to family. We miss them all and are starting to think of home as we’re well into the 2nd half of this trip.

So here we are, and the next stage begins, a week in Uganda and another week in Ethiopia. It’s warm here in Entebbe but much more humid than in Egypt. We’re a bit tired, the flight left Cairo at 10 pm and arrived here at 3:30 and to bed at 5 am.

Thanks for staying with us on this trip, and thanks for your notes, emails and comments.

We love you and trust you are doing OK? Arohanui.

Kevin and Helen.
 


Uganda and away

2022-10-16 to 2022-10-22

It seems like this trip I’ve been behind the whole time. Another week has passed and we’re about to leave Uganda. Later today Helen heads home to NZ, overnighting in Dubai and I head off to Ethiopia. In my defence, it’s been pretty full on the last week, so here are the highlights.

Sunday we left Entebbe and headed over to Kampala where we met 2 of our team members, Matt O’Byrne and John Vlaming. We spent until yesterday with them. Then on Sunday we went to Choice Baptist Church in Wabigalo slum and sat in the service. The purpose was to meet and get to know pastor Alex Minge, his family and team. We were pretty encouraged that he spoke and actually taught the Bible. They are going through the book of 1st Corinthians. Some great teaching and quite different to most African preachers. There was some content in his message very relevant to his people. Then we had lunch at his house and spent the afternoon with him.

Monday morning we went back there and saw the school he is operating in the slum and spent the morning with his team. They are an impressive group and are caring for and empowering many of the poorest people on earth. We’re assessing the opportunity for us here and we’re quite positive about it. They have things going all over the place with small business development, women’s training, agriculture training and a bunch more.

We then went across town to visit one of our partners who lost his wife through covid. It was lovely to hear his story and that he has remarried. We then spent some time with his team working through some new options with them helping girls stay in school and more agriculture training. Later in the day we drove over to the nearby town of Mukono and checked into the Mukono Resort Hotel – resort might be stretching it a bit!

The next morning, we spent with three people from a very poor area of Mukono and heard their story, again, another option to consider for partnership. They are a small group, their people were badly affected by covid lockdown. There might be something for us there. The rest of the day was spent preparing for the conference we are hosting in Jinja starting tomorrow. There was a huge downpour late in the afternoon which cleared the air.

Wednesday we headed over to Jinja, just over an hour's drive. We sorted out the place we were staying, got some lunch at the Source Café, cashed some money and headed back to the conference centre to greet people as they arrived. Most got there by dinner time at 7 pm and we had an evening session with them, mainly just introductions. It was great to meet many of our friends we have not seen for 4 years. It was a bit of a reunion party, and that’s why we did it.

We had an unfortunate incident at about 9 pm. There was a bit of a commotion at the gate and steam was coming out of a car. We went out and found a car parked in front of the gate that was badly damaged, it looked like it had hit a person. A crowd began to gather and it started to turn more difficult. We all came inside. It would not be good for muzungus to be seen. As it turned out it was an accident. The friend of one of the people at our conference was coming to meet him and ran into a crowd of people on the road. They said that 3 people were killed but that’s not confirmed. He high-tailed it to where he was meeting his friend, at our hotel! He was hurt and hiding on the property so the crowd did not lynch him. We locked all the doors and pulled the curtains and prayed. 90 minutes later the crowd was still around shouting having looted the damaged car. The Police came in quite good time. Not a nice start to the conference.

The next morning we heard that 7 people were killed and by Friday morning the word was that 17 people were dead! So we have no idea except that it was a tragedy and another reminder of how dangerous African roads are, especially at night.

Thursday we spent in the conference. The morning was a refresher course and discussions about Foundations for Farming led by John V, we were so impressed by the stories emerging. There was a group of 3 men from way up in the north, South Sudanese refugees who had been solidly training for some years and it’s transforming the community. After lunch Matt and I did a couple of sessions about Bright Hope World, it proved to be very helpful to them.

Helen had a lovely time catching up with our women partners. Many of them have tough lives taking the burden of many people and with few people to share it with. She could have stayed much longer with each one of them. Yesterday we came back to Kampala for the night and got ready to leave. This morning at 7 am we did an online covid test, we’re negative, as you can’t leave Uganda without a negative test. You can come in, but not leave!! Work that one out.

So friends, we’ll be in the air by the time you read this, going in different directions. Fortunately, it’s only for a few days. trust you're doing OK. Next time I'll report from Ethiopia. THe internet is a bit slow here are Facebook is an issue. So we'll try to get some photos out some time. 

much love

Kevin and Helen


Addis and coffee

2022-10-23 to 2022-10-26

I’m writing from Addis Ababa after having had another coffee. The problem is this, our main man here, Mulugeta was born in Kaffa. Guess where the name coffee comes from! So, it would be very impolite not to be culturally sensitive.

Today I move on to Gondar in the north of Ethiopia to catch up with Worku our partner up there. Can’t wait to get there after 3 years. I used to come to Gondar twice a year for about 12 years, so it’s a long gap and I expect to see a lot of changes. More about that in the next blog.

I got into Addis last Saturday from Uganda. Helen landed in Dubai about the same time in landed in Addis. Helen got away fine and back to NZ without any hassles and is battling with jetlag. Me on the other hand…. I got to the airline desk to check in my bags and oooops, a problem with my visa for Ethiopia. I hadn’t picked it up, I’m usually pretty pedantic about these things. My passport number is LM313137 but on the visa, it was written LM373131. Easy to do I guess. However, they let me on the plane and I was praying that the person at immigration in Addis would be blind or something. But no, he wasn’t. However, he was very helpful and after about 30 minutes they let me in. The new breed of Ethiopian officials are an exceptional bunch of people, young, and vibrant, they have shifted out all the old boys and girls and their surly attitudes. Anyway, I didn’t lose any time as my bag still wasn’t out, I think it was the last one on the carousel! Then 3 whirlwind days:

Sunday – we got to a café just after 7 am for a nice breakfast and coffee. Then an hour's drive to the town of Bishoftu and the church where I had to speak. About 120 people I guess and very noisy and vibrant. One guy was always blowing a trumpet during the singing, preaching and even the announcements! Then an amazing lunch of fish and injera and a drive back towards Addis to the town of Akaki and a wedding. We went to the bride’s home as Mulugeta is like a father to the bride. We hung around there until the groom’s party arrived to take the bride to the church. We all followed along tooting horns and holding up traffic and then the ceremony. I guess about 2½ hours of singing, dancing (jumping,) preaching, the vows and then the cake. And then it was all over. I guess there were about 400 at the ceremony. Lots of fun, energy and noise. Back to the guest house I’m staying at around 7:30 after another small meal.

Monday – we were off just after 6 am to the city of Hawassa (sometimes spelt Awasa) in the south. It’s where we have been supporting the establishment of several small-scale coffee farms. After about 90 minutes we stopped at Mojo for breakfast. Omelette and coffee. And then on we went, at first on a great motorway and then, not a motorway, one day it might be. We got into Hawassa at about 1:30 pm dropped off our gear and then lunch, and coffee. We then drove to a little church and met with the 2 guys we were here to meet. They told us how they moved into this area that is totally made up of people from another faith. They have established little groups of people, 14 so far. To visit some of them they have to walk 12 hours as there are no roads. It isn’t possible for us to go there; it would be too dangerous for us and for them if we showed our white faces. They showed us pictures of the 5 coffee plantations and told us stories of the people they are getting to know. This is a 5-year project and we’re 2 years into it. There will be 14 or 15 farms by the time we finish.

Then back for a rest which was cut short and instead we walked the streets of Hawassa for about 45 minutes to the house of a young woman with a fascinating story. She was an orphan and a local church educated her. She got to school leaving age and had done well. A friend asked her to come and live with her and her husband and they would look after her while she was going through university. However, before she started, her friend died and her husband turned to alcohol. He wanted to marry her, but she refused, he raped her and she got pregnant. That was the end of her university dream, she gave birth to Samuel. When he was 3 she went to Lebanon to work for 3 years to earn some money and came back as she missed her son. She’s been back 4 years now and Samuel is 10. She teaches 40 kids at Sunday School and makes a living by washing clothes for people with her washing machine. She’s a sweet woman who loves kids and serves God with all her heart. She lives with Samuel in one room and is very content. Back to the hotel at about 8 pm and bed.

Tuesday – I wasn’t really looking forward to Tuesday as it was going to be the same as yesterday in reverse! Anyway, breakfast and coffee at 7:30 am with some of the guys from yesterday. Did I mention coffee yet? There were 4 of us in the team plus a driver, and then a 30-minute walk with Mulugeta to a hotel for another coffee while the other guys spent time with the 2 guys from the bush. They arrived at about 10 to start the journey home, with a motorbike on the roof!

We drove an hour to Shashamene and dropped of the two guys from the bush and the motorbike. We then drove a couple of hours to Meti and visited a pastor and his wife and a great lunch and coffee. Then another hour to Koka to visit another pastor for a few minutes and then back to Addis arriving just at dark. Whacked but very glad to be back safely.

Yesterday was catchup day with meetings about the partnership and making plans for the future. I think all the coffee pushed back and I had an uncomfortable afternoon visiting a little room in the guest house, but today, it’s back to coffee again!

I am totally impressed by what’s going on in Ethiopia despite the war in the north. The place is teeming with vibrant young people. They are outgoing and those with a secondary education all speak English. They are joyful, funny and colourful, I just love it. And the vibrancy among Christian young people is palpable and expressive. I’m leaving Addis on a high. Not just brought on by coffee. Though, it’s about an hour since I had one so there’s bound to be another one soon!!

Much love to you all.

Kevin (and Helen sends her love too.)


we're home again

2022-10-27 to 2022-11-01

After spending and a few days around Addis Ababa and further south, on Thursday the 27th of October, I flew north to Gondar to visit our first partner in Ethiopia, Worku Tafete. We’ve been involved with him for about 15 years. I discovered a very different Ethiopia up there in the north. Fearful, tense, furtive. It began before I got from the airport to the city. Worku just dumped stuff on me, he needed to, he doesn’t have anyone safe to talk to. You may not be aware that there has been an almost full-scale war raging in the North of Ethiopia and it’s come quite close to Gondar. However, the big issue for him is the growing tribalism, the war is just one symptom of a very deep issue. This affects Worku because he is from the small Qemant tribal group that surrounds Gondar. The Amharic majority want them gone and many of his people have fled to Addis as they don’t feel safe in their own traditional lands anymore. Worku is nervous.

However, he’s getting on with making his vision materialise. The school is back to full capacity and fully operational, despite the issues created by covid, lockdown, war and tribalism. He’s added several new classrooms and there are now 945 kids in the kindergarten and 1,861 in the elementary school. I was there for 3 days and saw the school operating on a weekday and then on the weekend the work that goes on behind the scenes, repairs and maintenance, filling the 8 school buses with diesel, cleaning, making bookcases and chairs….. the list is endless. And the purpose of this: is to support 135 elderly to have some kind of life and community; to put 9 blind kids through secondary school and university; to see the next generation of young people learn to respect each other despite their tribe; to develop and send out agents into rural communities to facilitate change. The last one has been tricky for the past 2 or 3 years because of tribal tensions and many atrocities and because there has been little profit because of the covid enforced closure of the school. Along with that, prices have gone through the roof. I’ve got samples of it, some things are now 5 times more expensive than 2 years ago.

And, out of more than 100 kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools in the Gondar region, guess which one is number ONE! Yea, you guessed right. Worku is a remarkable man. I’ve probably said it before, but Worku would probably be chapter one in a book I write called something like “Refugees Making a Difference.”

Last Sunday I began the almost 2-day journey back to New Zealand. A flight from Gondar to Addis and 4 hours on the ground. Then a 4 hours flight to Dubai, landing and 2:30 am and having a 6-hour stopover and then the 18 hours to Auckland with an hour on the ground in Kuala Lumpur. Helen did a similar trip from Uganda 9 days before me with an overnight in Dubai. She’s right back into the travel thing. We’re thankful we got back into the groove of it – well pretty much – without too many hiccups.

It’s always a privilege to go to the places our people live and hang out with them. We’ve had a few days to reflect on the 5 weeks away as we finalise the reports. Some highlights include:

I’ve probably said this in several previous blogs. Now for the next month, it’s processing all this. Reports, follow-up, developing new initiatives with lots of emails and messages to and fro. We’ve got a trip to Christchurch soon and visits to some of our team close by. And, in less than 2 months we do it all again. Off to India on the 2nd of January.

This weekend Helen is in Levin with all her siblings. I cannot imagine how much noise there will be! Thanks for hanging out with us on the journey. We love you. Thanks for the messages and encouragement.

Arohanui (much love)

Kevin and Helen


This year's a wrap

2022-12-01 to 2022-12-08

Hi friends, Christmas greetings to you.

This is a final note for 2023 to tell you how much we’ve appreciated you walking with us this year as we’ve got back into travel and being able to visit our partners again. It’s been a crazy year, hasn’t it? We thought it might be good to do a bit of a review of the year and then look forward.

Up until Easter we were pretty much in covid lockdown. It seems such a long time ago. We were able to move about a bit within New Zealand and the highlight of the first part of the year was meeting our BHW team in Nelson for the annual Gathering. It was great to listen to the stories of how our people were coping and to hang out together.

At Easter we both got covid and were down for a week or so. Then, covid restrictions started to lift and we began to plan for travel again. Before Kevin headed off on the first trip, Kevin’s mum shifted to our place to live. She moved into her own little apartment on the ground floor and settled in well. She was able to quickly sell her house which made it an easy move. It took quite a lot of organising to get the place ready and Helen was heavily involved in that.

In August Kevin headed away for 3 weeks. There was a little apprehension about how different it would be, but he didn’t find it too different. He was able to get things done in Tanzania, Rwanda – and with some visits from D R Congo friends and also Armenia. It was obvious that covid and lockdowns had caused a lot of stress emotionally and economically in all the places he went. Prices have skyrocketed for basic goods. Some items were 4 or 5 times more expensive!

We’ve both been blessed by involvement in small group studies this year, Helen in a women’s group and Kevin in a guy’s group. It’s been great to spend time with like-minded people and to encourage each other. With our increasing involvement in BHW and travel we’re in the process of pulling back from leadership roles in local church.

Then it was the second trip for the year. We had 3 weeks in Egypt with donors and partners with a couple of days break in the middle. So great to see that despite all the difficulties our partners are still focussed and full of energy. Then a week in Uganda meeting new and existing partners. Some have had terrible tragedies during covid, one partner lost his wife to covid, and one couple had their eldest son murdered. Life has been and continues to be very difficult for many. Helen then came home and Kevin had 9 days in Ethiopia exploring partnerships in the south and north of the country. Some great things are happening. But you know this, you’ve been following along.

Since getting home we’ve had 5 days in Christchurch with the team and 3 days in the southern north Island. We’ve had some lovely family times too. Helen had a weekend with all six of her siblings in Levin the weekend after Kevin got home. We’ve had birthdays with the grandies and visits to and from our kids. Last weekend was great. The girls went out for high tea in Central Auckland and the boys went fishing. It was a celebration of Hugo’s 13th birthday more than a year late! It’s less than 3 weeks till Christmas and they’ll all be back with us. Kevin’s mum is recovering from a fall and a broken arm and is in care.  Life goes on for us all.

Kevin had to do a report about the field for the AGM in Christchurch and despite the ongoing issues of covid we were all surprised by some of the things that happened in 2021 – 22. BHW is involved now in 33 countries with 233 partnerships and we (that’s H and K) are involved in:

We’re now finishing off the year with church events and reports, there are always some to do. We’re also planning trips for next year and it’s looking pretty full on.

I hope you’re not tired of keeping up! There’s always something to pray about, plan and write up! We’re so thankful for you staying on the journey with us. It’s amazing really that you have the time to pray, support and be in touch.

We still feel like teenagers though to be fair, we are, despite what it looks like, traveling a bit slower these days. And we continue to be inspired by those we love and serve.

Happy Christmas to you and your family, wherever you are right now.

Much love

Helen and Kevin


New Year in India

2023-01-03 to 2023-01-04

Happy New Year. Wow, we’re in India, crazy and not without its dramas.  30 hours before we were due to fly we got an email saying that India had introduced new covid travel restrictions for people flying into India through several places, Singapore being one of them. They required a PCR test. Guess where we were transiting? It was impossible, the next 3 days are public holidays! We checked several sources and thought we would be OK and as it turned out, we were. But unbeknown to us, the deadline for travelling without the test finished on the day we flew.

However, our friends Tony and Leah are coming 3 days later and will need to get the tests. We’ve just heard that they got negative results and it should all be good to travel. Whew, it all adds to the uncertainty. This travel gig is so much more difficult than before covid. Things change with little notice, making long-term planning very hard to pull off in the places we go to.

We had a lovely time over Christmas with our kids and grandkids staying with us for 4 days and nights. Lots of fun, games and a boat trip to a nearby island. It’s the longest time we’ve all had together for several years, it was great to hang out.

On Tuesday we flew to Singapore and then on to Kolkata, arriving on the same day we left. Today we’re getting organised, buying a couple of sim cards, cashing money and contacting some of the people we’re visiting. Thursday we head off for a couple of days to the islands (Sunderbans) off India in the delta of several rivers that flow into the Bay of Bengal. We’ll be checking out partnership opportunities there. Then Tony and Leah arrive and we spend the next 9 days with them in and around Kolkata plus a train trip inland to Jamtara.

After they leave we head off to Manipur State and then to the north along the Bhutan border and to Darjeeling. In the next few days, we’ll be on boats in the Sunderbans, vehicles around West Bengal, tuk-tuks around Kolkata, trains to and from Jamtara and a few flights as well. So, seat belts on, we’re on the way! We’ll stay in touch.

At the end of it, we’re coming back to Auckland and straight to Nelson for our annual Gathering of the BHW clan. I hope it’s not going to be too active, we might be asleep most of the time!

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen

p.s. a few photos of summer and Christmas before we left home. 


Kolkata for a week

2023-01-04 to 2023-01-10

Hi friends, hope the year had started OK for you. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind here as we move around Kolkata. We left Kolkata today and apart from using it as a hub about 3 times later in the trip, we’re moving on. We’re keeping really well and seeing so much. Here’s a bit of an update with some photos. It’s not a day-by-day report, just some of the highlights so far, but I will keep them in chronological order.

We began the trip with a 2-day visit to the Sunderban area East of Kolkata. We stayed a night in a quaint hotel in Malancha. The food was amazing, their tiger prawn curry was to die for. We were travelling with 2 other guys and met several others along the way and visited their homes.

We met a little group of believers who were workers in a brick kiln. Most of these people are from Bangladesh. They have left there because of religious persecution, most were Hindu$ living in a Mu$lim country. Here they are very poor but at least they aren’t bonded workers like in some other places our partners are working.

We visited Gosaba Island, a place of significance for Baptist people as William Carey lived there for some months back in the 1790s. the trip across to the island was great with an old, I mean and 80-year-old boat and motor.

A night meeting with a group where the whole family leading is very musical. They sang beautifully with local instruments. This is fish farm country, thousands of hectares of fish farms with prawns and several fish species.

We visited a sewing programme where we met 12 women from a course that graduated in 2021. We then presented certificates and graduated 18 more who had just finished their class and we met 18 more who were to begin classes the next day. Pretty fun times, the women went crazy wanting selfies, mainly with Helen of course. That has been a constant theme this time here!!

Tony and Leah arrived safely and have been right into life on the road. And there’s been a lot of time on the road. Very noisy and dangerous roads. It’s a very different experience and not for the faint-hearted. One day we were away from the city for 14 hours and 11 of them were spent driving! It’s great having them along with the objective of facilitating these partnerships in the future.

We visited another sewing programme with many more selfies. We met a group that had just completed the course and another about to commence. These courses are such a blessing to people. Then across the city to a computer training programme, 30 young people and 6 women in a sewing programme. At each of these meetings someone had to speak to them all!!

Then the long day travelling about 200 kms to another town which took almost 5 hours and that’s on a motorway most of the time. We visited two mushroom farms established to provide income for key families. It was nice to be out of the city and in the fresh, rural air!

We spent yesterday with a lovely family. We visited the free tuition centre they run for 50 kids, 5 days a week and heard the stories of their lives. Terrible stuff. Two boys were in the group. Their mother is 19 years old and has 3 children. Her “husband” is a rogue and drinks the money she earns as a housekeeper. Her monthly income is $NZ40. She was married at 11, the oldest boy is 7 years old. We chatted and ate wonderful food with our friends and their son entertained us with songs, he has a beautiful voice.

Right now we’re on board a train travelling inland from Kolkata to visit a large project we support, but more about that next time.

Thanks for the messages and prayer. Helen is trying to keep in touch as much as possible. Hope you enjoy the photos, mainly of Helen, she’s the selfie queen now. Actually, she doesn’t like it that much!

Lots of love

Kevin and Helen


To the West and to the East

2023-01-11 to 2023-01-17

Dog tired, I think that’s how we’d explain it. Too much travel and too many miles on hazardous roads take it out of you. Now, where were we, that’s right on a train heading West from Kolkata. We were heading there to a town called Jamtara with Tony and Leah and our good friend from Kolkata, Molay. We found out that this little town is infamous because so many people here are involved in cybercrime, it’s the phishing capital of India evidently, so infamous that there is a movie on Netflix called Jamtara and a TV series as well! Needless to say, we kept a tight hold on our bags.

We arrived just at dusk and we met at the station by our friend Santhosh and hurried off to the vehicle and to their home. We filled in the next few days with a heap of activities:

Then last Saturday we trained back to Kolkata and caught one of the famous Kolkata taxis from Howrah train station to our hotel near the airport. We found out that to take our next flight to the city of Imphal Helen and I would require a PCR test, so we had to organise that. The next day we ubered to Molay and Anita’s place for church, they have about 30 people meet in their living room. Then lunch, my word, Anita can cook, amazing, she could open a restaurant in Auckland!

Then back to the hotel near the airport. Tony and Leah were flying out that night, so we hung out for the afternoon and evening, talking about their experiences and impressions of what they had seen and experienced. We’re hoping they will continue to be involved here in India with our partners.

Early Monday morning we headed off to the airport to catch the plane to Imphal clutching our PCR test results, and no one asked for them! Well, that was a waste of time and money. That’s the residue of covid, I wonder what covid has really cost the world, well, I really mean, the measures adopted to try and control it. We got to Imphal in one piece and were met by our friends here and whisked off to their café for a great coffee, actually 2 coffees. We’ve spent the last 2 days meeting people, drinking coffee, making plans and listening to stories. So much sadness and trauma here and so little in place to help people. Our friends are wanting to do something about it.

Anyway, that’s enough from us. Tomorrow we head back to Kolkata and then on to Siliguri and the Bhutan border the next day. There are still some km to travel on this trip. We’ll fill you in on that in the next edition. We’re keeping really well and it’s so good to be meeting these lovely people again and hanging out with them.

Thanks for following along, it’s great to have you on the journey.

Much love

Helen and Kevin 


Into north West Bengal

2023-01-18 to 2023-01-25

An interesting few days have passed since we last wrote. We’ve navigated our way around the north end of West Bengal visiting three partners. We flew to Siliguri and our friend from the Bhutan border was there to meet us. We travelled 3 hours northeast, much of it through tea estates planted way back in the late 1800s by the English. They still bear the names of many of those old tea planters. Many of the people in this area are dependent on jobs in the tea industry. It was good to see that one old one that had become derelict was being renovated and more jobs for the locals.

We spent 2 days on the Bhutan border, mainly with a bunch of boys from Bhutan and India in a hostel because their parents don’t live near a school. That was a highlight. We spent a lot of time hanging with them and enjoying their company. They are so much fun and love jokes and stories. On the last night they sang, recited poems and danced, they love to dance. And we ate momos, you’ll have to check out what a momo is if you ever want to come to this area of the world. I’ve put up a photo of some and one of the ribs!. We also spent some time with the key community workers there and heard about the issues they face. Recently, each of them has received a little herd/flock of goats or pigs to help support their families. This is just getting underway, though we get to cuddle a one-day-old kid. There are several more we heard.

I try not to put up any photos of our friends or kids that can be identified for security reasons. 

Last Saturday we headed back to Siliguri and met another friend. He drove us about 2½ hours into the foothills of the Himalayas to Darjeeling. It's still tea country but here the bushes are perched precariously on the edge of steep slopes. It’s winter and we felt it up in Darjeeling. My goodness, it was cold. Frosts both mornings and houses that are not designed for cold.

Sunday morning we went to church and froze the whole time. The music was pretty loud but that didn’t warm the room up. Nice people. After church, we headed out into the countryside. It got colder, a pea soup mist had settled over the hills. We drove for about 30 minutes along misty, winding roads till we came to a little town. Five of us wedged ourselves into a booth in a tiny momo restaurant and filled our tanks with warm food and tea. Then another 30 minutes along roads that got narrower by the km. Finally, we stopped and transferred to another more robust vehicle and drove off the mountain along pretty rough roads to a little village. In this village, a church has recently been built and a new group formed. We spent half some time there and got a photo of the key couple and the cow they have been given.

We then travelled about 20 minutes to another village. There is a larger church and the main leader from there looks after the other church. Every weekend someone from this area walks to the other area, about 2 ½ hours each way. It’s a very rugged and beautiful area though we couldn’t see much because of the mist. At each place we had to have tea and most wanted to prepare a meal for us.

We got back to the car and an hour later were in Darjeeling around 6:30 pm and quite dark. We went to the Blind Date Restaurant – genuine Tibetan food and very, very good. Their ribs were to die for. We got back to the house around 8:15. A long, cold, interesting day.

Monday we were driven back to Siliguri and by lunchtime were ensconced in a hotel for a couple of days. The plan was to write as many reports as possible before reaching home; some of that was achieved. There is still a lot to do though but we’ve got a lot of notes, interviews and recordings and photos galore.

We had one last friend to meet and on Tuesday afternoon we went to the Bright Hope School and spent some time with the students and leaders. It was exam time here some girls weren’t there, but about 80 of them stayed back to meet us and dance and sing. Lovely little kids whose parents cannot afford for them to go to school. Most are from adavasi and Nepali backgrounds and are very vulnerable. This area of the world is a hot spot for human trafficking and a big reason for the school's existence is to try and provide a barrier at the top of the cliff so the girls get some education and don’t have to be sold off by their families.

Right now we’re in a reclining room at Kolkata Airport. We’ve got about 8 hours before our flight to Singapore and home. So we’re trying to recline a little before we sit for a long time!

We’ve got a little more to do before we get back to our home in Whangaparaoa, but we’ll write early next week and fill you in about that and wind up this trip.  

Much love

Helen and Kevin 


Home again and drying out

2023-01-26 to 2023-02-01

It was time to leave India. We escaped the reclining room in Kolkata airport last Wednesday at about 9:30 pm and headed through check-in and Immigration with no hassles. We’re glad we went through earlyish as we were ahead of the huge rush that we saw later in that night. We had no issues to deal with on the 2 flights home and 3 hours in Singapore airport. We had a few little naps on the flights and the movies at the moment are rubbish, so didn’t watch even one. We arrived in Auckland around midnight on Thursday with an ominous warning about rain about to hit Auckland. And it sure has, there have been deaths and many houses are waterlogged still as we write.

We managed to dodge the worst of it. Friday afternoon we flew out to Nelson for our annual Bright Hope World Gathering and spent the weekend in the relative warmth and dry. We managed to fly back to Auckland Sunday afternoon after the worst of it was over. No damage at our place.

What a great weekend it was with our team as we went through all the countries our partners live in and prayed and yarned about what’s going on there and some of the issues they’re facing. We do this every year and while a few couldn’t make it, most we there, the biggest one for several years.

And now? It’s time to write up all we’ve seen and reflect on it all. To process all we’ve seen and make some plans for the future.

We only got through some of the partners in the 24 days we were there. There are many more and we’re planning another trip to India later in 2023, mainly to visit new opportunities. We discovered a few on this trip and there are several from previous trips. There is enormous potential there.

We’ll continue dialogue with Tony and Leah about their role in India. They were great to travel with and now we need to develop that pathway.

Hearing the vision and seeing the passion of our partners despite trying circumstances is always a stimulus to our faith. They are amazing and so many people are being empowered, protected, rescued and strengthened by them: children, orphans, women, vulnerable girls, blind people, adavasi girls and so many young people. It was great to hear so many stories.

There are vast numbers of un/disempowered women and it was great to see many of our partners involved in them. Stories about hopelessness turned around, of opportunity being created, of poor kids being educated and given a love for books and learning continue to swirl around in our heads.

And as well, the story of a 19-year-old mother with 3 children, one of them 7 years old. You do the maths, how old was she when sold off for marriage? And of the 12-year-old girl who stopped coming for daily tutoring for a couple of months. Her parents said she was visiting an aunt but the real story when she returned was very different. The small piece of land between Kolkata and the border with Bangladesh is a hotspot for child trafficking.

And of course, two other unforgettable components of the Indian experience, the traffic – which we won’t miss and the food. Oh my goodness. The coffee and cakes in Manipur, the tiger prawns in Malancha, the street food, the Rogan Josh in the hotel in Siliguri and the many meals prepared with love in the homes of our friends. Just unbelievable.

And now? Kevin is heading down to Christchurch next week to the office and will be recording a new season of the BHW podcast, “It ain’t that Simple Mate.” And we’re preparing for the next trip early in March.

We’ll be doing a bit of family stuff too. We need to find a rest home for Kevin’s mum as she needs full-time care after a fall. We’ll hang out with Jared and Ruth and Hugo and Joel this coming weekend and later in the month will travel to Tauranga and visit Sara, Karl and Coco. Our emotional tanks will get filled up from all of that.

We’ve kept really well and don’t take that for granted either. We’ve survived countless near misses and that too is more than a minor miracle. And we are full of thanks to God and to all of you who have followed along and been part of it. We appreciate it very much.

Arohanui

Kevin and Helen


Gone again

2023-03-03

Well, where did summer go? Autumn (Fall) has begun here in New Zealand and it just seems like we didn’t have a summer. December disappeared in a flurry of Christmas and family activities. January we spent in India and February, well – rain, rain, rain. It seems like New Zealand is now in the sights of tropical cyclones. So many people have been badly affected and are now in recovery mode.

We weren't affected at our place. But there’s been plenty on the go. Kevin had a few days in Christchurch getting ready to do a 3rd season of the BHW podcast to be recorded in April. We’ve spent some time with family and have been preparing for our next trip. As well, Kevin’s mum who was shifted into a rest home had a fall last Saturday and broke her other hip! Oh dear, some very late nights and hospital visits. Also, a 70th birthday was celebrated on the 24th of February and there’s another during the next trip on the 11th of March. They sneaked up on us, though to be fair, we’ve had plenty of time to prepare for them.

We leave later today and head off to Dubai and on to Casablanca, Morocco. We’ve never been there and it’s a bit of a break before we hit Pakistan. We’ll post a few photos as we go. North Africa fascinates us and maybe some opportunities will emerge as well.

After Morocco, we head to Pakistan for 2½ weeks to visit our partners and see what they’ve been up to in the past 4 years since we were last there. We’ll be out and about around Lahore, Faisalabad and Islamabad with a few side trips. There’s a lot to see there as our partners are pretty active. Several sewing classes, student scholarship programmes, and lessons for kids growing up in brick kiln factories and a school. We’ll meet friends from NZ, Michael and Carolyn Hanson for the Pakistan leg of the trip. They are picking up a facilitating role for BHW in Pakistan and a couple of other countries.

After that Helen comes back to NZ and Kevin heads off to Malaysia. We have partners working in Sabah on the Island of Kalimantan. It’ll be great to see what’s going on there and get some stories. It’ll be the first time to visit that part of the world although Kevin has been further south in East Malaysia.

We’re excited to be leaving but it’s tinged with concern for mum’s recovery and missing family. But we’re planning to be back for Easter and we’ve got some family time planned.

So dear friends, it’s time to welcome you back on board for the next flight, strap on your seat belts. We’re about to take off. I’ve added a few photos of us from recent trips.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


birthdays

2023-03-04 to 2023-03-12

We’ve been in Morocco for a few days now, actually, tomorrow we leave. We came here on the way to Pakistan for a couple of reasons. We had a lot Emirates Airlines airpoints to use up before the end of last year and Helen and I are both turning 70 and this was a way to celebrate it. Yesterday was her birthday, mine was a couple of weeks ago. So, here we are, in Morocco and about to head off to Pakistan.

We’ve been surprised by Morocco to be fair. It’s more developed than we imagined in many ways, green – we are here in Spring, lots of nice toilets, the roads are good and the drivers are not too bad either. Internet is everywhere and quite fast which makes travelling and staying in touch pretty easy. Many people can communicate in English. There are hundreds of European camper vans on the road, some caravans, lots of foreign motorbike groups and many cyclists. Also, busloads of tourists from Europe and Japan, but not many Chinese travelling yet. Morocco, according to our driver depends on tourism, it’s all they have in terms of foreign income. The people are friendly and welcoming and the hawkers aren’t as pushy (generally) as in many countries.

Anyway, a few highlights and photos for you to enjoy what we’ve been seeing. I’ll go day by day for the first 4 days and then in a few days, once we get to Lahore I’ll complete the rest of the tour.

We had 2 nights and 1 day in Casablanca on arrival to catch up. The Auckland to Dubai flight was 17 hours, then there were 3 hours on the ground before another 8 hours to Casablanca, so we were tired on arrival. We got organised, cashed some money, had a beautiful brunch on the Corniche and a walk by the sea and bought a sim card. We booked a 7-day, 6-night tour around Morocco with a driver. We’ve done this before in other places and find it a relaxing way to travel.

Day 1 we travelled from Casablanca to Rabat (the capital city) and on to Chefchaouen, the blue city. Nothing much to see in Rabat but Chefchaouen is sensory overload. We stayed in a very cute hotel and that night wandered around the town spending some time in a Berber carpet shop. Fascinating but very expensive. Mind you, a decent-sized carpet can take more than a year for a woman to weave. Virtually every house is painted blue and it’s obvious there are hundreds of layers of paint on the walls. Some buildings are held together by the paint.

Day 2 dawned damp and cold but we managed to dodge the worst of it on a 75-minute walk around the town. It’s all we needed, we tend to like to travel quickly and aren’t here to browse market stalls. At about 10:30 we headed off to the next stop, the city of Fes. It’s the cultural heart of the country and actually a really nice place. Our riad (guesthouse,) was in the middle of the medina (the old walled part of a town.) An amazing old building more than 200 years old. We didn’t do much else that day.

Day 3 we headed off early for a tour of the town. We started at the gate of the king’s palace, he has dozens of them. We wandered around the medina seeing the university – the oldest in the world they claim, Muslim obviously right in the middle of the crowded medina; the tannery – the oldest and largest in Africa – medieval in terms of how they do it and foul-smelling; a museum of old wooden stuff, actually quite cool and recently developed in what was an old hotel for camel caravans and lots of stalls. We then went up to a fort on a hill overlooking the city – quite impressive and a mosaic-making factory all done by hand and beautiful – but not our style. By about 12:30 we headed off to visit Volubilis, a Roman city about 90 minutes away. We stopped for lunch in a little town – bbq and twice as much food as we could eat. We spent about 90 minutes wandering around the ruins of what was the Roman capital city of Mauritania. Some impressive buildings and mosaics. Then back to Fes and food. I’ll tell you more about the food next time.

Day 4 was all travel to be fair. 9 hours in our little car to the town of Merzouga, way down south near the border with Algeria and on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Irfan, the Switzerland of Morocco. It snows up here and the houses do look like they’re in Europe. There’s a great University here, a beautiful place with extensive forests of cedar. Another hour and we were eating Berber bread and espresso om Timahdite. Having a local driver means we get to eat in some great places.

Then a long leg to Errachidia and a packet of chips for lunch. The bread fills you up. Then we came to the High Atlas mountains, a pretty impressive range still covered in snow. This is such a beautiful, diverse country. Every couple of hours the landscape changes dramatically. We then travelled along a beautiful gorge and oasis, about 12 km long and filled with date palms and gardens before we emerged onto a huge plateau just before we hit the town of Erfoud we ran into the first signs of the Sahara Desert. They are fighting it with bamboo, it looks like they’re failing despite valiant attempts.

At Erfoud, we turned off the main road and headed towards Merzouga, the entry into the Sahara. We were arriving around 4 pm and the dunes were high and orange. The whole area from Erfoud is renowned for fossils, there’s a museum there and many sites along the road where people are digging. Kevin got on a camel for a 40-minute ride to our camp and Helen took a 4WD, good choice actually. We spent that night in a tent in the Sahara.

And we’ll leave you there for now.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Out of Morocco

2023-03-12 to 2023-03-16

We left you in the Sahara Desert, not quite in the middle, just on the edge. But a great sleep, so dark, so quiet. After a couple of essential coffee stops, we headed West towards the Dadés Gorge. We drove for 3 hours to Tinghir where we had lunch before heading into the Todhra Gorge. The water pours out of the rocks in several places and in great quantity. It’s pretty spectacular to be fair. Then on to Dadés Gorge where we stayed the night in a cute little riad. We’re in the High Atlas Mountains and the rivers are full of snow melt.

The following day we passed through Ouarzazate where several films have been based including Gladiator. But we didn’t stop. Then up another side road to Benhaddou, the site of a huge kasbah (palace) from 600 years ago. This was the palace of the king of this area before there was only one king in Morocco. We climbed all over it, nowadays it’s just a tourist place with heaps of shops.   

After another hour on this little road, we joined the main road recently reconstructed by the Italians. It's an amazing road. We stopped at one place to get a photo of the “snake” road, then got an espresso and saw how they made argan oil in a little village.

Finally, we emerged out of the High Atlas Mountains onto a plain and headed for the mystical city of Marrakesh. It’s a bit of a labyrinth but finally, we found our quaint little Riad, Agda Royal. We rested for about 30 minutes and then headed to the Marrakesh market. What a fantastic place. Dozens of little streets full of people and shops. And then the big market area, crazy. Amazing food options, drinks, entertainers, snake charmers, belly dancers and heaps of other stuff. Cacophony is the only way to describe it.

That was last Saturday, and Helen got to be in Marrakesh for her 70th. Nice. Since then, it’s been more travel. We had one more night in Casablanca before a night in Dubai on the way to Lahore. We’ve had two early mornings because of flight times, 3:30 am on arrival into Dubai and 4:30 am on arrival into Lahore the following day. But we’re all good and have had one day with one of our partners here.

We’re here with friends Michael and Carolyn Hanson who are taking over the facilitator's role in Pakistan, we’ve got quite a bit to check out here over the next 2 weeks. We’ll stay in touch.

Anyway, it’s almost time to pack our bags. We’ve had 2 nights in a hotel here and today we shift in with our partners to stay with them. There’s quite a lot of tension in Lahore with the police trying to arrest the former Prime Minister, Imran Khan. We’re hoping it doesn’t get any worse or spread any wider.

Anyway, I’ll start packing,

Nice to chat.

Much love

Kevin and Helen 


Ramadan in Punjab

2023-03-16 to 2023-03-23

It’s early morning and we’re in a village in the middle of Punjab in Pakistan. The village name is 322 JB Shahzada. The number is based on the irrigation canal system, a huge project the British did in the 1800s. it’s vast, covering about 16 million hectares, one of the largest in the world. But it’s in trouble and unless the government invests in the infrastructure it’s going to become increasingly unable to cope.

2 nights ago we were sitting outside with our friends just chatting a large earthquake rocked the area. The ground swayed and we looked nervously at each other waiting for a jolt, but none came here. It was located about 650 km from us and has caused some damage.

Since we left you last we’ve had 5 days around the city of Lahore and now a couple of days near the city of Faisalabad. Today we head to Islamabad for a week. Around Lahore, we spent a lot of time with our partners, in their homes and visiting the people they work with. Along the way we:

The political situation isn’t great here. While in Lahore there were riots going on each day as the previous Prime Minister was being hunted by the police on charges of corruption. This country seems doomed, with 80% of its budget going to the armed forces and the army able and willing to step in if they don’t like the elected politicians.

So, riots and earthquakes and today Ramadan begins. We’ll have to negotiate our way around all that as well as we head to Islamabad. The very loud speakers from several mosques burst into life this morning at 3:45 and have been going intermittently since then. It’s now 6 am.

We’ve spent just a couple of days in the current village, visiting women’s sewing programmes. We attended a graduation 2 days ago, another yesterday and yesterday afternoon another that finished a year ago.

We’re keeping well. It’s great to have kiwi friends with us to share the journey and talk through what we’re seeing. We have to turn it all into reports so mornings, evenings and downtime sees us frantically trying to remember it all and write it down.

Anyway, it’s almost breakfast time so I’ll send this off and get into it.

Much love and warm regards,

Helen and Kevin


On the way home

2023-03-24 to 2023-03-30

Oh boy, a week has flown by. We’re sitting in the International Airport in Islamabad, Pakistan about to fly out of Pakistan to Dubai. We have one night there and then Helen flies home to Auckland and I head to Malaysia for a few days.

It’s been a week full of relationship-building. We finished our time in the village and caught a bus from Faisalabad to Islamabad. I dropped my phone in the car of our friends who delivered us to the bus station and there were a few anxious moments to be fair! Fortunately, it had dropped inside the car, not outside it! And then it was a week in Islamabad rebuilding relationships with the Gill family. It’s been 4 years since being here, there’s a lot to catch up on. As well, we’re introducing them to those who will replace us in this area of the world.

We spent several hours just chatting about how they go about doing what they do. It was very helpful to dig a little deeper. There are millions of Christians in Pakistan and they are an oppressed minority. Azam finds them and brings them together to encourage one another and to empower them. He has little groups all over the country. We sponsor sewing programmes for women and have also helped with computer classes and adult literacy. Barbara runs a school for poor kids, many of them Christians and Pashtuns too, another minority group. The school was hit hard by covid but is starting to slowly pick up again.

We visited the school and several of Azam’s locations. One was in the city of Abbottabad when Osama bin Laden was caught. It’s a very Muslim area with about 150, 000 people and 2,000 Christian families. We met a lovely family, a mother and her two sons and their wives and 3 grandchildren. A little church meets in their little house. One of the sons works in Saudi Arabia and can send between $NZ300 and $400 back home. It’s a huge help but also it’s not easy for his wife and child. This is very common and few get to send that much home each month. For many months he didn’t have a job and he sent nothing. Others work in manual labour and some months can’t afford their costs in Saudi or other Middle East countries. They are planning to run a couple of sewing classes there.

While with the Gills we were able to visit 7 groups ranging from 30 to about 100 people, 3 sewing groups, the school and meet with a couple of recent refugees from Afghanistan. My goodness, what brave people, were beaten because of their faith and having to flee from their own country. The Taliban thugs are a murderous regime representing only about 25% of the population but who have enslaved the rest.

It was great to have Michael and Carolyn Hanson with us. The plan is that they will take over facilitating Pakistan and Afghanistan and Indonesia as well. It was so good to have a little more time in the country to help them get their heads around it all.

Azam and Barbara’s children are great. They are studying, working online and helping their parents. We hope that this next generation will come into the work as well, they are very sharp young people. New plans are emerging for the future so that’s pretty exciting.

Helen has had a bit of a bad tummy for a couple of days but is improving and I’ve got a sore throat now. Hopefully, it’ll get better soon too.

Well, the plane is loading so we had better go.

Catch you later.

Much love.

Kevin and Helen 


East Malaysia and Home

2023-03-31 to 2023-04-14

Gidday friends, hope you’re OK? Kevin arrived back Thursday before Easter and has just got his head sorted enough to write something. We came back to a huge amount of stuff to work through and there’s a large list still to go. We did have a bit of a break to be fair and some family time, so now the list!

We left you in Islamabad airport, to be fair, not the best place in the world to abandon people. However, the new airport there is nice, but you wouldn’t want to spend too much time there. We headed to Dubai without any issues and got to our hotel. We had one night there before heading our separate ways for a few days. The next morning it was out to the airport early and a couple of hours in the Emirates lounge until Helen flew back to New Zealand and 20 minutes later Kevin headed to Kuala Lumpur.

Helen had an eventless flight with a spare seat beside her for all 17 hours. That is a major bonus when the flight is that long. She drove to see Kevin’s mum and on arrival home and then flopped on the couch for a couple of days. But she’s resilient and before too long was back up and out and about.

Kevin got to KL and had 3 nights and 2 days resting and writing and wandering about before heading away to Kota Kinabalu for 2 days. The only thing outside the hotel he did was take the train into the city and check out the Petronas Towers. It is a beautiful building. Apart from several layovers in KL airport and a night about 35 years ago, this was the first opportunity ever to check out the city and see the towers. They weren’t even built then!

I met with Stephen, a local guy at the airport on Monday morning the 3rd of April and we travelled together for the next 3 days. We flew to Sabah and met 3 of the local guys we would spend the next 2 days with. We headed straight to a restaurant, what else would you do in Malaysia. Then a 2-hour drive to the city of Keningau where we were based. The next 2 days were a blur of meeting church planters, talking with the guys to try and understand what they were trying to achieve and eating not necessarily in that order. Because we only had 2 days, we couldn’t go deep into the interior of the jungle where a lot of their work is based. So we visited several of the little groups of believers on the outskirts of the city.

One guy had an aluminium window-making business and that was his ministry base. Some of the guys demonstrated how they went about meeting people and talking to them. At every house and group, we had to have tea and biscuits or a whole meal. Lovely people and many wonderful stories. We met one family at their house. This was their world in the hills behind Keningau. Their house, their church, and their family cemetery were all there as they welcomed us and told us about how their lives had been completely changed. And now about another 50 people joined them several times weekly to worship. Most of them eked out a living by growing their own food and subsisting, but so happy and thankful. I would like to have stayed longer.

The last day was a bit of a long haul. We had breakfast at 8 and then a second, huge one at 9 that took 1½ hours. 2 hours later the guys stopped at another restaurant, and I couldn’t eat any more. So, on to the airport and a 4-hour wait at Kota Kinabalu for the plane. Not even a little snack! Then a 2 ½ hour flight to KL. East Malaysia is an interesting place, you must get your passport stamped even on an internal flight. West Malaysians like Stephen aren’t allowed to work there. Anyway, 3 more hours in KL airport and no food. I’ve started fasting, NOT! Then onto the plane to Auckland, phew, a spare seat beside me!! Only 9 hours to go and I picked at the meals. After the amazing taste of Malaysia, airline meals weren’t even a little bit desirable.

We’ve spent some time with family over Easter too. We’ve been visiting Kevin’s mum who is now in full-time care about a 35-minute drive from us. And we had 2 of the grandchildren, Joel and Coco here for a couple of nights. What a lot of fun it was.

We’ve got a lot to sort from this trip and the next looms as well. It’s still 8 weeks away, but it’s a long trip in difficult places with several people coming and going. Our passports are full so that’s another thing to get sorted out!

So, dear friends, we’ll sign off here. Thanks again for your love and support. We’ve put a few photos up from across the trip for you to enjoy.

Much love

Kevin and Helen 


Up and away to Southern Africa

2023-06-14

It’s time to go again. We’re busy packing to head away again on Friday the 16th. This next trip sees us away from New Zealand for 6 weeks, here’s a summary. You can follow along, meet some of our people and participate in our adventures as we travel.

First, we go to Kenya where we meet John Stanley from Chase Oaks Church, Dallas, Texas. John is the missions pastor at that church and they have been sponsoring a project there for several years. We’re going to be interviewing the people on the discipleship programme near Lake Victoria. We’ll then come back to Nairobi for 3 days and interview several alumni from previous years. While in the Lake Victoria area, we’ll be visiting Rusinga Island to check out a potential new partnership.

Then we head to Madagascar for a week. We’re held up for a day in Antananarivo as our flight was cancelled and we have to go south a day later than we planned. When we go south we’ll be visiting a team of young people we’re been supporting. They all have goat herds now to support them as they move around villages helping people and telling them about Jesus. This is a very dark area of the world. I’ll tell you more as we go.

Then it’s across the Mozambique Channel to, you guessed it, Mozambique. But we have to go through Johannesburg. We have 3 places to visit in Mozambique: 1) Maputo – a partner that mentors and supports young people with their education so they become leaders; 2) Angoche – we support a church planting movement there among Mu$lim people as well as a tutoring programme for 2,000 children to learn their own language and 3) Pemba – where a Zambian couple we have known since 1987 is developing a wonderful ministry.

We then head into South Africa for 3-day break with friends in Johannesburg and then we visit a partner who is working with abandoned people who are HIV+ and teaching young people about avoiding HIV. They are lovely people and it’s 5 years since we’ve been able to see them. We’ll sneak into the Kruger National Park while we’re there too! Shhh!

We then have 10 days in Zimbabwe where we’ll visit two partners. One is in the Karoi area with a community development project. It will be our first time to see it since it began about 2 years ago. Then it’s off to a huge partnership near Bulawayo where several villages at a time are being developed. There is lots to see there.

We have 2 days break in Hong Kong on the way home to break the journey. Just writing it all down makes me feel tired.

Anyway, buckle in, we’re off 48 hours from now. Thanks for your prayer and support as you come with us. 

Much love

Kevin and Helen 


Interviews in Kenya

2023-06-16 to 2023-06-24

Hi friends from Nairobi, Kenya. We sort of hit the ground running and throw in some jetlag and a busy schedule, it’s been a little difficult to find all the time we need.

We travelled well and even slept a little on the plane. It makes such a difference when you do get some sleep. We went through Singapore, then Addis Ababa and into Nairobi. We overnighted there and our friend from the USA, John Stanley came in and then the following day we flew to Kisumu on Lake Victoria.

Monday we picked up a rental car and drove about an hour south into the bush in Nyakach. We then spent 2 days interviewing several young people who are about to complete and gap year programme. It was great to hear their stories. Each year about 30 of these school leavers attend the programme. They study the Bible, learn how to look after themselves and by the time they finish are pretty sure about what they want to do with their lives. Most of them go off to college after the course. Let me tell you one story:

Rose comes from the Mathare Valley, it’s one of the worst slums in Africa. She grew up there and is a product of the MCO work, MCO is our partner in the valley. They supported the grandmother and the family with food parcels and education. There was no food for the family at weekends. She grew up hating men because of the way men were in the community and in her family. She was at the first discipleship course in 2013 and was invited to be a facilitator in the programme every year since then.

She grew up with her grandmother and for many years had her grandmother’s faith. She discovered a personal faith at Moriah. The discipleship programme has been hugely influential in her life. She talks to many people about the Moriah programme and encourages them to come. As she counsels and encourages people, she finds it hard that people will not listen and make sensible decisions.

She and her brother and sister went to live with her grandmother when she was 12 after her mother died. Her siblings still live in the Valley. She studied Social Work at College, but she got her first job with her certificate from the discipleship course. She loves kids and teaching them.

Her father is still alive and she wishes that the family would be able to come together. She is 32 years old.

She’s a vibrant young woman and hugely passionate. It’s so cool to meet a leader who grew up as a slum kid. Now she’s out of the slum and leading others out as well.  

We also spent time with the leaders of the ministry and talked through their plans. They’re facing many challenges here as this economy is under huge pressure.

After 2 nights in the bush we headed to Rusinga Island, about 2 hours away. The island is in Lake Victoria. There we spent a day with Hellen, an energetic woman who loves kids and who has started a good work to help them. This area is hugely impacted by HIV/AIDS and there a so many orphans and widows. We spent time with the kids, listened to some of the parents and tried to understand Hellen’s vision. We love her commitment to being sustainable and to visit several projects she has begun to achieve sustainability.

Then back to Kisumu and a crazy search for our hotel. Google Maps led us up the garden path and it took a while. The map has every little country road in it and we discovered that the shortest way is often not the quickest!

Yesterday morning we flew back to Nairobi, checked into our hotel and then headed into Mathare for a few hours, more interviews. We’re here for 3 more nights, today we’re interviewing all day, then Sunday we’ll go to church and Monday John leaves us. We have a day to catch up and then the next stage of the trip. But more of that next time.

We’re keeping well hope you are too.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Way down south in Madagascar

2023-06-25 to 2023-06-29

The sun was just peeping over the horizon as we boarded our plane in Antananarivo (Tana) to Taolagnaro, Madagascar this morning. You’ll hear about why we’re going there next time. Right now we’re high above this huge island heading south. We had 2 nights in Tana as the flight yesterday was cancelled. It’s been a catch up day. We met our friends and companions for the rest of the trip, Tim and Grace on Tuesday, the day we arrived. We spent yesterday briefing and sorting out stuff before today’s early flight.

Since last blog we had a couple more days in Mathare Valley. Saturday was mammoth, we interviewed 12 young people who are alumni of the Moriah Discipleship programme. This gap year has made such a difference in the lives of more than 250 young people and that day we heard some of the difference. Every one of them cannot imagine how bad their lives who be without this. We hear many stories of transformation, socially, emotionally, educationally and spiritually. Here is one of them:

Jamal went to Moriah in 2015. He and his 5 siblings were raised by a single mother after his father was killed in the 2007 post-election violence. The van he was in was attacked and all were killed. His parents are refugees from Ethiopia, they came to Kenya as refugees as his father was involved in politics. As he grew up, he didn’t understand what was happening around him and it affected his schooling. He had to repeat grade 8 twice. He was in a government school on the first attempt but came to MCO secondary school for the second attempt and succeeded. Even though he has a Muslim name, his family are Christian.

His pastor recommended that he attend Moriah. When he got there, he had no idea how to read the Bible, to pray or to live as a Christian. After Moriah he got a scholarship through MCO and studied electrical engineering. But he doesn’t have a godfather so has not been able to find employment. He then studied photography and videography, but still cannot earn money easily. His mother is still a refugee and does not have Kenyan papers. He is a Kenyan citizen now.

He is the chairman of the youth programme at his local church. He finds Kenyan young people are very hard to lead, they always have something else to do.

He has a disabled sister, Latu who is 16 years old and is in an institution. Life is very difficult for his mother. His father worked in a butchery before he was killed and life was good for them, but not now. His mum has a small business where she sells clothes and perfumes. He would still like to be an electrical engineer. He’s a very vibrant expressive young man.

Stories like this are not easy to listen to. What do you do with all you have heard? This is part of what we’re grappling with at Bright Hope World. People struggle through education, even getting a degree but there are few jobs, if you don’t know the right people you don’t get a job or if you don’t pay someone to get to the top of the heap you will be a beggar the rest of your life. Nepotism, injustice and corruption, three of the big burdens the people of Africa carry on a daily basis.

On Sunday morning we went to church and Kevin preached and after church we spent time planning further involvement with the leaders of these programmes. Maybe, expand the course, add a scholarship programme, start a small business start up loan fund, commence a second level course to further equip people, all are on the table. Now to work out how, when, how much.

That afternoon and Monday morning we spent time with our friend John from the USA sorting out a few things and he left Monday around midday. We then has 24 hours to ourselves, most of it repacking for the trip to Madagascar on Tuesday and trying to write up all those interviews. We’ve still got some to go but we’re getting there.

Anyway dear friends, we’ll sign off and let you get on with life. The pitch of the engines has just changed so I guess we’re about to commence descent.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Mad and Moz

2023-06-30 to 2023-07-08

OK, I know it’s been a while, but we’re too busy having fun here in Africa and writing about it isn’t high on the agenda!! Actually, there has been so much going on we’re struggling to find time to write. And when we do, there are reports and lots of emails coming right now for some reason.

Southern Madagascar was a wonderful time. We met some amazing young people. We arrived in Taolagnaro on Thursday last week and immediately boarded a full vehicle for Ambovombe, almost 4 hours away on rather interesting roads. We arrived and of course, there was food and talk, for the rest of the day. We met a team of young people there who are quite remarkable. They are mainly village kids who walk everywhere. Their group meets on a Monday and some of them come 40 km each way every week to spend time together. The rest of the time they are walking around their area telling people about faith in Jesus. And the life change in these villages is sensational. There are more than 100 groups now and it’s expanding every week. This advance is being supported by a goat project we began with them last year. It has doubled in size to almost 300 goats in several villages and is growing by the day. Next February the villages that received goats begin returning them so other villages can get some too. They return the same number they got plus two more over a period of 3 – 4 years.

We heard lots of stories and laughed a lot with them. But we could only stay 2 days. It was meant to be 3 but the airline cancelled the flight on Wednesday and we left a day late. We drove back to Taolagnaro a week ago and stayed the night in a quaint little hotel called Anita. We were near a beach so went for a walk and Tim who is with us went swimming.

On Sunday we flew 2 hours back to Antananarivo and Monday morning we spent with our lovely friend Yant who talked to us about her vision for the future. Very inspiring. Then to the airport and a 3½ hour flight to Johannesburg. No hassles getting into RSA but a few finding our hotel, there are several with similar names near the airport! Finally, a nice meal and bed. But, up early for a 4 am shuttle to the airport and a 6 am flight to Maputo, Mozambique. Slow getting a visa on arrival but no issues and off with our old friend Patrick Mulenga to spend 2 days with his family and friends.

Here we met another bunch of wonderful young people who have graduated from the scholarship programme we fund with Patrick and Grace. My goodness, the quality of these kids coming out of a slum is inspiring. We interviewed several, fortunately, Grace on our team is great at taking notes and typing them up.

Thursday morning we were on a plane again at 6:10 am and flying 2 hours north to Nampula. Talsamo our man there met us and after a stop to get some food for the journey, we hit the road for a 4½ hour drive to the coastal town of Angoche from where I’m writing this. The first 80 minutes were on great tarmac, but the rest of the trip was pretty rough. We arrived to a singing welcome in the street by the local Christian group we’re working with.

Here we support a leadership development group that meets every week, one guy travels 150 km each way on sand and gravel on his motorbike to get to the meeting. That’s every week. We missed the meeting but met several of the leaders. We also support a work that tutors around 2,000 children to read their own language. On Friday we spent the day visiting several of them, so cool. These kids come on the way to school. Today is Saturday but it’s the day the church meets here. We went to church and Kevin had to speak for the 3rd time in 3 days to a group of around 200 adults and lots of kids. Now, it’s Saturday afternoon. We’re writing and packing for a 5 am journey back to Nampula. We’ve got one more place to visit in Mozambique and then it’s on to South Africa for a week.

Hope you’re doing OK? We’re keeping really well, eating too much and not walking enough. We send our love to you and trust you’re doing OK?
 

Kevin and Helen 


Finished in Mozambique

2023-07-09 to 2023-07-14

Hi friends and family, yesterday we were in Pemba, 30 degrees, now we’re in Johannesburg, 5 degrees. It’s beautifully fine now, but it was colder than that this morning at 6:30 am as Kevin went off with his friend Dae to speak to a group of businessmen. It’s probably not the ideal way to start a break of 3 days, but, there you go. That’s our life.

Since the previous update almost a week ago we travelled back to Nampula from Angoche early on Saturday morning. We arrived OK, pretty tired after the drive over rough roads. We stayed at the YWAM guest house and relaxed for a bit and wrote up reports from Angoche. We were a long way from the shops so just ate what we had in our bags, a few nut bars, some buns and a cup of soup. Good enough.

The next morning it was off to the airport at 7:00 am and a 2-hour flight back to Maputo. We wanted to go 200 km north, but the roads aren’t safe and there was no flight. Maputo was freezing, the coldest day many could remember, wet, rainy and windy. We snuggled into the hotel without heat pumps and pretty much froze. Tim and Grace went off in the evening and found a nice restaurant and we settled for leftovers from our suitcases!

Back on the road in the dark the next morning in a taxi with no lights to the airport for the 2½ hour flight to Pemba. Mozambique is over 3,000 km from south to north. The plane was due to leave at 8 am. We finally took off at 12:30. On arrival in Pemba we were met by our partner there, Chrissy, and off to the hotel, on the beach looking out over the little harbour. By this time, it was after 4 pm and we were tired, we seem to get more tired sitting around than when we are being active. We had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant and hit the sack, really nice rooms.

We spent most of the next day with Chrissy. He came at 9 am and we chatted through till about 2 pm. We covered as much as possible about life here and what he’s doing. Suzen his wife wasn’t around, she’s back in Zambia with the kids. He’s been having a real impact on the young people they have worked with over the years.

This is close to an area where there is a lot of rebel activity. That morning one of his church members rang to say that her husband, also a church member and in the army was missing on patrol. Their army squad had been ambushed in the bush and several of them were killed. But his body wasn’t found and there is no idea where he might be. So he prayed with her and encouraged her, that evening we went to church and there she was with her 1-year-old son. What do you say? What would you say to her? The horror of terrorism seemed that much more real that night.

Yesterday we spent more time with Chrissy and then he dropped us at the airport and we flew south. We’re here until Sunday and then head out to Nelspruit and Hazyview for a couple of days with a partner there. Seeing we’re right beside Kruger Game Park we may just be able to do a short visit!!

Well, I’ll sign off here, there's still more writing to do. We’ve had no amend some of our plans in Zimbabwe next week as there is an election looming and it’s not very safe in some places. Tomorrow morning South Africa time the Springboks play the All Blacks. I’m hoping it will be a day of victory, otherwise, we’ll be suffering!!!

Much love to you and may you experience the grace of God this weekend.

Kevin and Helen


back in southern Africa

2023-07-15 to 2023-07-20

Oh dear, where has the week gone? We’re currently in Harare, Zimbabwe with a bit of spare time on our hands. yesterday we were supposed to go out to a village near Karoi, 3 -4 hours from here. However, there are elections in Zimbabwe soon and our friends there said it’s best not to go, there is too much political instability in the rural areas. We’re sitting in Harare to wait until Sunday. We considered changing our tickets, but it was going to be quite expensive and inconvenient. Anyway, there is plenty to do and Heather in the office is fed up with all the reports coming through!!

Since the last update we watched the ABs win, phew, and Kevin spoke to a group of businessmen at 7:00 am last Friday and then breakfast. And we rested for a couple of days. Then Sunday afternoon we flew to Mpumalanga Airport to visit a partner near Hazyview. We stayed in a lodge near Kruger Park and were able to do a Game Drive on Tuesday morning, see photos below. We spent a day and an afternoon listening to stories from Ma Flo and her team as they told us about the ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS. There is a lot of trauma and huge numbers of orphans and vulnerable people in the community. HIV/AIDS is still prevalent and a forgotten pandemic. It’s so much more impacting than covid ever was.

On Wednesday we flew to Johannesburg early in the morning and then to Harare. No hassles getting a visa on arrival, and we were met by Rodwell, our host for the 4 days here. We dropped our luggage at the hotel and headed off with Rodwell, Philip and Rose for lunch. We had a great meal of local food that left us very full. So, no need for dinner that evening.

Yesterday we spent some hours with Rodwell and Philip hearing their plans and dreams for the community transformation project they are developing in the village of Maunga, near Karoi. It has a preschool that will become a school, a new group of Christian believers where there was none a couple of years ago, a chicken layers project, a soya bean crop in the bag and waiting to be sold and training people in farming. Oh, and a borehole, water tank and solar pump. It’s up and running and now we’re listening to the following stages of development. Tomatoes, pigs, chickens, butchery. Who knows what else?

Today we’re planning to head to the Foundations for Farming base to have a look at where all our people get trained. On Sunday we go to church in Harare and then fly to Bulawayo with the last of our partners for this trip. It’s a biggie with a lot to see and talk about.

We have a week to go before we start our journey home. We’re travel weary, too many plane flights early in the morning! But we’re OK and starting to think about the journey home. It’s great travelling with Tim and Grace and seeing this part of the world through their eyes. We value your prayers as we travel on rough roads over the next few days.

There’s so much to be thankful for, especially for you as you journey with us.

Much love to you all

Kevin and Helen


Almost home

2023-07-21 to 2023-07-29

In the last blog we were in Zimbabwe. Since then we went to the Foundations for Farming base and the lovely people there spent 3 hours showing us around. It’s an impressive place and great people, we all, including our partner Rodwell learned a great deal.

Then Sunday we went to church and Kevin did one of the 2 sermons. The service took 4 hours including almost an hour of special fundraising. What a hoot, though it did get pretty tiresome by the end, especially as we didn’t understand what everyone was laughing about. Some of it was aimed at us of course! We got that bit!

We had a good time with our friends in Harare, it would have been better if we could have got to their place. But the upcoming elections are really hampering development and freedom of movement and thought!

After church, we flew to Bulawayo and went to a little guest house for two nights. Our friends there were so hospitable, bringing us food and supplies. We had a great visit on Monday to Majiji village where they are working and met some lovely people, visited several homes, heard stories of life change, the impact of Foundations for Farming and the team as they engage for the long haul with these people. It’s remote, sandy and infertile, but things are changing, and hope is rising.

On Tuesday we drove out to the town of Chivi. It’s a drab, dusty place and the soil is sandy with huge rock formations bursting out of the arid ground. There’s a fair amount of mining in this area, asbestos being one of the main products! Because of the elections, we weren’t allowed to travel around without 2 guys from the president’s office accompanying us and of course, needing to be paid! Note to self, don’t ever go to Zimbabwe within 6 months of an election! Anyone working there needs a great deal of tact and patience. Everything is stacked against positive development.

We were there for 24 hours and were able to: 1) visit a clinic that the students from a vocational training place had upgraded with tiles, paint and also a roof on a new house being built by the community. It was operating the day were there, it happens about once a month; 2) visit a borehole we had funded after our last visit in 2017. It supplies the local community and clinic; 3) a school feeding programme for 187 kids. It’s in place while the locals are being trained to grow gardens; 4) 2 gardens being grown in local communities, one with 106 families, the other with 18.

The gardens have been a great catalyst for change. Several people told us about the huge change in their families because of them and the water. They are healthier, their kids all go to school, and they are united in the village as they all work together and help each other. The churches are flourishing. One guy said, “We are happy in our hearts and in our family. This is the happiest our village has been in my lifetime.”

We drove back to Bulawayo late on Wednesday into the gorgeous setting sun. After breakfast on Thursday morning with Gideon and Jennifer we said goodbye and headed to Bulawayo airport. There we said goodbye to Tim and Grace, our travel buddies for a month. They were a delight to travel with and we had a lot of fun as we went. They flew off to South Africa, Sydney and Christchurch and are now in the cold. 3 hours later we flew off to Addis Ababa and on to Bangkok and then to Hong Kong. We’re here for 2 nights in the heat, tomorrow we’re heading back to Auckland. Our tickets brought us this way and we decided to stop for a break to limit the impact of jetlag and to hang out together for a couple of days.

So another saga ends. We’ll write again in a week or so to wrap this journey up. It’s been the longest journey for some time, we’ve been travelling slower and we’ve managed to get there. Almost. God has been good and we’ve seen him at work transforming whole communities, one life, one family at a time.

Thanks for being on the ride with us, it’s such a privilege to have you with us, thanks.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


In the USA on the way to India

2023-10-15 to 2023-10-17

Hi friends. The past 2½ months in New Zealand have whizzed into the past. Right now, we’re in Denver, Colorado at the start of another trip.

But, before we outline that we need to do a catch-up. The last few weeks have seen us involved in 3 Bright Hope World (BHW) presentations, one in Christchurch, another in Tauranga and one in Auckland. It’s been great to catch up with BHW supporters.

There have also been family events with visits to Sara, Karl and Coco in Tauranga, to Brisbane, Australia to visit Helen’s brother and Kevin’s uncle and aunt and cousins. Uncle and aunt are 98 and 97 and have been married for 77 years. It was so nice to see them again. Another highlight was a weekend in Kinloch near Taupo with our children and grandchildren. It was a delayed birthday celebration we couldn’t have earlier in the year for both Helen and me. Last week we looked after our 2 grandsons for 3 nights and we’ve been regularly visiting Kevin’s mum who is in care.

As well, there’s been a lot going on in the parts of the world we look after and quite a lot of thinking about future strategy for BHW now that we’re planning an exit. There are a lot of younger people to bring onto the team and that will take an increasing amount of our time from now on.

It's hard to explain how long it takes to organise a trip like this. We have 16 flights, 14 places to stay, 20 partners to meet and listen to and people joining us for various sectors of the trip. Just to say, I’m glad I’m not a travel agent, so much can go wrong. And you set something up and book the tickets and something changes, grrrr! And, we’re planning 3 trips for next year as well!

2023 has been a crazy year of travel; we’re just beginning our 4th and final for this year. We always knew it was going to be that way as we’re catching up on the 3 COVID years. So, like I said, we’re in Colorado with one of the couples easing their way into roles with BHW. We’re here for 3 days and then to Dallas for 4 days with a church that supports partnerships in Ethiopia, Egypt and Kenya. There’s a lot to catch up on.

Last week we had 3 friends from one of the BHW partnerships in India stay with us. We showed them around Auckland and had a great time.

In a week from today, we’ll be landing in India where we plan to spend about 4 weeks. We can’t tell you all we’ll be doing there as it’s sensitive and we don’t want to compromise our partners. So, we’ll not be saying too much on social media. Our main purpose is to explore new opportunities, several of them ones we were working on before COVID. We’ll be in several cities, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Siliguri, and in towns and villages around those cities. And right at the end, we’ll be in Nepal for 3 days to catch up with partners there.

So, buckle up we’re off. We plan to get home on the 22nd of November. Thanks for continuing to walk with us in this.

Much love

Kevin and Helen 


Pumpkins - USA to India

2023-10-18 to 2023-10-24

Greetings from Delhi, India. We arrived last night with a few hassles. The hotel we booked was in the middle of a large protest, so we weren’t able to get to it. Fortunately, we found out before we got there so had to divert to the government tourist office who helped us book another! It would be fine in daylight, but late at night, possibly a little weird! Anyway, we got here OK, 2 flights and on the 15-hour leg from Newark to Delhi we each got more than 8 hours sleep.

We’ve rested today knowing we would be tired and about to head off into rural India. We leave at 6:30 am tomorrow from the hotel to fly to Hyderabad and then 6 hours in a car. We’ll tell you more sometime later, we don’t want to say too much.

Our time in the USA was great. We had 3 nights with friends Collin and Kenzie and their two little girls Eden and Mabel. They’re in the process of joining our team and it was great to talk through plans. Mabel has health challenges, which makes it all a bit complicated, but we’ll get there a little slower than we all hoped. We drove into the mountains to check out the beautiful aspen colours but they blew away in the days before we got there, we played pickleball, ate BBQ and talked long into the night. What good people.

Then we had 4 nights in Dallas hanging out with John Stanley and some of the Chase Oaks Church leaders. They are very generous sponsors of BHW partnerships in Egypt, Kenya and Uganda and Ethiopia in the past. We’ve not seen them for several years, so it was important to catch up and make a few plans. And eat BBQ, Hutchins is the place to go!

It's Fall in the USA so the trees are beautiful and there are pumpkins everywhere. One day in Dallas we visited the Arboretum, we’ve never seen so many varieties of pumpkins. Check out the photos. There were also many front yards decked out in Halloween junk, weird stuff.

Relationships are so important, aren’t they? We are blessed with so many wonderful friends. Almost everywhere we go we stay with them and share life. It’s precious. I think back over the past few weeks and marvel at all the wonderful meals we’ve shared and conversations we’ve had with family and friends from so many different backgrounds. Each one of you is wonderful and unique and brings such strength, diversity and hope into our lives. Truly, we are blessed. Thank you.

Much love

Kevin and Helen


Spicy - and great opportunities

2023-10-25 to 2023-10-31

Hi friends and family, welcome to another edition of our blog. We’re sitting in a most beautiful airport lounge in perhaps the most beautiful airport terminal I’ve been in, Terminal 2, Bangalore. I’ll include a couple of photos. We’re about to fly to Delhi to be with partners for a few days. We’ve got over just losing the cricket to Australia and the rugby, I’ll say nothing more about that! I’m not sure some of our friends are over the second event and I wish we didn’t have so many South African friends!!! Just joking.


Since our last blog, we have flown to Hyderabad from Delhi where we were met by friends we’ve visited once before. We then drove 7 hours into the neighbouring State to check out what they’re up to. They have some interesting community development that includes agriculture, a boy’s hostel, Bible translation and the formation of a small group network. They are developing a community centre to train people and eventually a clinic which might become a hospital. Probably not in our lifetime. One of the interesting things about ancient cultures like this is that they play the long game. Maybe in 50 years, they said. This is something we Kiwis have lost I think, our place in time and history and in the overarching God narrative that is playing out.


We met with about 35 people and talked with them and listened to their stories. They are brave as they seek to bring spiritual, economic, health and education to people with very little. We helped dig a trench for irrigation and water delivery to the centre they’re building and made plans. We attended the birthday party of a 12-year-old girl; 11 of her friends came as well and they laughed and giggled as we talked with them. They had great English and were so funny.
We spent most of the time with the 2 families who are living in pretty basic conditions to serve these people. They are inspirational and remind us of the years we spent in Zambia last millennium.


We started driving back to Hyderabad at 3 a.m. on Saturday to get to the airport by 9:45. We then flew to Bangalore where we were met by a young guy who drove us to our hotel. We got there around 3 pm, 12 hours later, pretty tired. On Sunday Kevin went to church and Helen rested and in the afternoon we rested up and wrote reports. It’s surprising how much time it takes for these old fingers. Uploading photos, writing a daily narrative and reports, and answering emails from all over the world, that’s life on the road. The Bright Hope World doesn’t stop just because we’re on the road.


We spent most of Monday with 4 awe-inspiring people. Back in March 2020, I was in Kolkata and the next morning was supposed to fly to Bangalore to meet this group when COVID intervened. Instead, I had to cancel those plans and fly back to NZ to beat the deadline. So, 3½ years later we finally got here. We’ve done a couple of Zoom calls in the meantime and Fraser Scott, our Executive Director has met them in Kuala Lumpur, but here we were on the ground. They have a couple of organisations, set up to assist the development of local communities. We were so impressed; I don’t think I’ve met a group of people with values so closely aligned with those of BHW. We’ll be proposing soon that we commence a partnership with them. Although they are based in Bangalore, they have partners and projects all over North Ind1a where we have a focus. Watch this space!


So, another report to write as we move on to Delhi! It’s OK, that’s what we’re here for and we plan space so by the time we get back to NZ most of the reports are pretty much completed.

We’re sad for the families of two friends in New Zealand who passed away in the last few days: Pieter Human, a lovely man and chair of the elders at our local church. Too young to die, he will be sorely missed by his wife two children and many friends. Gwenda Smith, 98 years old and family friends for Kevin since before he was born and a big influence on Helen in her teenage years. Sad to miss both funerals. It’s the hardest part of this travelling gig!
That’s enough from us.
Much love to you each one.
Helen and Kevin


Tea - in the north

2023-11-01 to 2023-11-07

Our time in Delhi has passed and we’re now way up in the north on the border with Bhutan. The last 3 days have been a bit hectic. A flight from Delhi to Kolkata on Sunday and then in the afternoon we met with about 60 people, many of them graduates of sewing programmes. Of course, we had to do the obligatory talk to them, then look at what they’ve learned and nod knowingly and listen to some of their dreams. It's pretty cool to hang out with them. People from all backgrounds too.

Monday morning, we headed off for a 2-hour drive through rural India to a little place where we met with about 100 people. This team has trained 67 women to sew, and we heard how many of them have started little businesses. This makes such a difference to the women who for the first time in their lives are viewed with some dignity and have some value apart from producing babies and serving men. Pretty cool.

Then this morning we were up at 4:18 according to Helen’s alarm, showered and in the Uber at 5:05 for the trip to Kolkata Airport. No hassles, we got onto the plane and by 8:45 we were in Siliguri where our dear friend S met us. Then a 3-hour trip north with a couple of stops for tea. Well, it is tea country after all. We’re here for 3 nights so it’s a bit less travel for a bit. We’ll be hanging with the boys in the hostel and talking with the community workers coming in tomorrow. We’ve got a friend with us from New Zealand. All the way today Heather was looking for elephants as we were in elephant country. But all we saw were heaps of monkeys. There’s plenty of banter as we bounce along the rather crowded roads.

Delhi was great. We were in 1 place for 5 nights. There was a lot of talking to our friends there. They are great and did want to talk and ask a lot of questions to help them with strategic planning.

One day was spent with another partner and Kevin visited the location of a potential partnership among Afghan refugees. Hopefully, something will come of that soon.

We’re keeping well despite all the curries and other delicacies. Helen is being very careful, Kevin a little less so with the spice. We’re so encouraged by what we’re seeing and the great people we meet every day. Lives are being impacted and lifted out of poverty and it’s great to see it and hear about it day after day. I’m not sure how we’ll process all we’re experiencing but give us a few days and something will emerge.

Well, we’ll sign off, it’s more tea at 5 and we can’t keep Heather waiting!

Thanks for following along and reading us prattling on. We’re aware that we can’t do this without your support and we’re very thankful.

Much love

Helen and Kevin 


crabs and prawns - West Bengal

2023-11-08 to 2023-11-14

Hi dear friends and family, the last week has been full-on. Since we last communicated there has been a lot of action here, I’m struggling to remember it all so I’ll outline day-to-day highlights. 

We spent Wednesday with the team there encouraging them, listening to the stories and catching up with developments. We’ve been helping them by buying goats to help them become self-sustaining. We heard about them as well. We’ve had most of our meals in people’s houses and I have to say, it’s been fantastic, simply stunning. Again that night, more of the same.

We left our friend's place for a day trip to another village about 90 minutes away at 10:30 on Thursday morning. On arrival, we spent time talking to those gathered and hearing what's been happening with the work there. Pretty cool stuff and we met another couple doing great things too. We’ll have to stay longer here next trip. Then more food and more talks with the obligatory photos and out to a little village where the goats and pigs were housed. We met the families being helped and the boys who were being educated. We got back after dark and as it was Heather’s 14th wedding anniversary, we had a cake and a party.

Early on Friday, we drove to Siliguri arriving in time to catch the plane back to Kolkata. We were met there by another good friend who came with us to Howrah railway station. 20 km took an hour and a half. We had some lunch at the railway station and then found our seats on the train for the 5½ trip to Adra. By the time we got there and caught a toto (electric tuk-tuk) to the place we were staying. We had been travelling for 14 hours. Uncomfortable hours mainly!

No rest for the wicked, Saturday. We were off about 8:30 to visit several little villages where we met some of the nicest, poorest Christians on earth. These tribal people had come to faith despite harsh opposition and were transforming their families and communities. Pretty powerful and the food at the place we had lunch was just superb. They produced an amazing feast at the home of a very progressive family. It was the first time in living memory for white people to visit this village and there was palpable fear in the faces of some, especially the children. We got back after dark very inspired, and full of thoughts with a lot to process. We then around 9 pm, another meal!

Sunday was church day, so we sat for 3 hours. Well, Kevin didn’t sit the whole time cause he had to speak. More chats in the afternoon and then the train back to Kolkata arriving around 9:30. It’s Diwali and the roads to our hotel weren’t very busy. But our poor friend who had to carry on another 11 km took 3 hours having to walk the last 5km.

Monday, up and away at 8:30 for another day on the road and in the village. 2 ½ hours East to the Bangladesh border with another potential partner to see a project we’re interested in. I know I’m always talking about food, but the prawns and crabs were simply indescribably delicious. Another trip in the dark back to the hotel and a light snack before bed.

Tuesday, today. Nothing planned for us. Heather is off on a day sightseeing tour and we’re blobbing, well writing actually but we’re not in a vehicle and right now, that seems like a great blessing.

There’s a lot of writing to do now so, I’ll sign off and see if we can get into the reports.

Much love

Kevin and Helen. 


Momos - Nepal and home again

2023-11-15 to 2023-11-27

Hi everyone,

Hope you’re doing OK where you are right now. We’re back in New Zealand and settling back. Helen isn’t well with a bad cough and throat and Kevin is in Christchurch finalising the year with our Bright Hope World team. Helen was meant to be in Christchurch but wasn’t feeling great and stayed back.

Since our last blog, we flew back to Delhi and stayed at Delhi Bible Institute (DBI) for 2 nights. On arrival, Heather, our travelling companion and Kevin popped along the road to visit India Gate while Helen sat in a café drinking tea! The next day Heather left us and flew to New Zealand and we began writing. It was great to have another good day at it and we powered through a lot of words.

Early on Friday morning the 17th we left DBI in an Uber to Delhi Airport and flew to Kathmandu for 3 nights. We were there to visit our good friends Niranjan and Sonu. We usually stay with them but Sonu was unwell so we went to a hotel. We then spent the next 3 days listening to their stories and those of several others as well. Oh, and eating more than a few momos.

It was great to spend some time with their lovely children too, Nigel and Nancy. What impressive young people they are with dreams for the nation and the good news. We met a couple wanting to start a buffalo farm, a guy wanting to go to the USA to study, a young man who had been ripped off by a friend and was struggling to repay his loan, a group of young people wanting to commence a healing/counselling centre and another group wanting to start a clothing manufacturing business. Finally, we met a father and son who work on the border with India trying to serve people being trafficked to India. We were very moved by it.

On our final morning, we woke really early, a terrible sleep and so began the longest day. We packed our bags, checked out of the Hotel Himalaya and went with Niranjan and Nigel to look around the old heart of Kathmandu. Interesting stuff and learned a lot. Then back to their place and some lunch around 3 pm and rest for an hour. At 5:45 we headed to the airport, a slow trip and checked in for our 2-hour flight to Delhi at 21:40. Left my laptop, phone and hat in the confusing security area, so thankful to remember quickly and found it!! Eeek, that could have been a disaster!

Into Delhi about midnight and we weren’t due to fly out until 10 am. We couldn’t get through into the departure area until we had new boarding cards, but no one was on the Singapore Airlines desk at that time of the day. So, we mooched around, slept a little and waited until about 4:30 when we got our new passes and were allowed through security and into a lovely lounge.

While waiting for the boarding passes we met a couple who were stranded in the airport, their credit cards wouldn't work and were getting a bit tired of being run around by the Immigration people. We were able to give them a bit of moral support and they were happier by the time we left.

We rested in the lounge until we boarded and then it was 5 hours to Singapore. We didn’t try to sleep as we were facing a 10-hour flight a little later. We were able to get into the lounge in Singapore for 4½ hours before the flight to Auckland. We popped a sleeping pill and Helen got 5 hours sleep and Kevin 7. That was such a blessing.

Our brother-in-law picked us up and we picked up a few groceries and were home late Tuesday afternoon. Whew. Now it’s picking through all the notes we’ve not written and making decisions about what to present to the executive team for consideration.

Anyway, that’s us for the year. Thanks for hanging in there with us and going the distance. Thanks for the messages, prayers and support, we value it and your friendship.

Much love

Kevin and Helen 


Vietnam stopover

2024-02-16 to 2024-02-24

Hi friends and family. The year is well underway and Helen and I are into the first trip of the year. We're on our way to visit partners in the Philippines, Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia and we decided to stop over in Vietnam for a break. We did this instead of having a 50th wedding anniversary party in January.

So we've been a bit quiet for quite a while and now it's back into travel. On Monday we complete our time in Hanoi and fly to the Philippines where we'll meet Marlene from the USA who is coming to travel with us in the Philippines.

As usual, in January, we had a Bright Hope World gathering in Nelson. A couple of days before that we had an orientation for some others who are exploring the feasibility of joining our team. It was great to have 12 people in Christchurch and another 7 online. We're so excited to have so many great people praying about coming onto the team. We're not getting any younger, today is Kevin’s 71st birthday. To be in a room full of young people keen to invest their lives serving the poorest of the poor was pretty cool.

Helen will catch up to Kevin (in age) in a couple of weeks while still on this trip.

After Vietnam, we have six days in the Philippines with Marlene visiting one partner there. We'll travel to the island of Palawan where our partner is working. After Palawan we overnight in Manila and again in Singapore on the way to seven days in Indonesia where we’ll visit partners in two different locations.

We then transit through Dubai, where we'll meet Fraser Scott our executive director and spend the day introducing him to John Stanley from Chase Oaks Church in Dallas TX. Fraser will be coming out of Zimbabwe where he will have been with a team and John is coming In from the USA and will travel with us after Dubai to Egypt.

We go on to Egypt with John visiting several partners for 10 days. After he leaves, we have another 5 days for more visits and report writing. On the 28th of March Helen and I separate, Helen flies back to New Zealand and Kevin to Ethiopia for five days. Helen gets back just before Easter and Kevin just after. Of course, these are our plans to this point and we ask God to direct our paths and lead us to the right people.

So, like at the start of every trip I say it, fasten your seat belts, we’re about to take off. I’ve included a few photos from our time in Vietnam. Mainly Helen eating! Well, not quite but.....

Hope you enjoy the journey as we share places, people and things we experience. 

Much love, 

Helen and Kevin 


On the way to Indonesia

2024-02-28 to 2024-03-04

We’re sitting in a hotel looking out the window at terminal 3 at Manila airport. Later today we head off to Singapore and the next day to Indonesia.

We’ve had 6 great days in The Philippines. The first 2 nights we in Manila, near the airport. A friend from the USA flew in at a similar time to us. She came to learn about Bright Hope World and us and to visit partners with a view to becoming involved in a field facilitation role. We spent a day with Marlene and then on Thursday flew with her to Puerto Princesa (PPS) on Palawan Island. Our partners are working there developing local leaders and small groups of believers who become agents of change in their communities. On arrival in PPS we drove for 4 hours south on a local minibus to the town of Brooke’s Point.

We spent the next couple of days visiting several of those groups, maybe 5 or 6 of them. We met some wonderful people. Mimi in the village of Kanangkaan really stood out. A vibrant single woman who is seeing economic, agricultural, spiritual and education transformation in her community. And she is leading a team into another neighbouring village where there is now a group of over 100 people meeting. They are about to be sent to another community who have invited them. It’s encouraging to see this exponential growth from village to village. These people are the indigenous Palawano tribal people and they are not well catered for by the central government. Many of them join a radical left-wing and violent militia groups and cause havoc. These development give these local people a lot of hope and introduce development.

We also met Julius who is one of the leaders and he is a tribal chief. He is planning some things that will directly confront these issues and we’ll probably be asked to get involved in.

Our partner group is called ECPM and Vic, one of the key guys travelled with us. We had great fun with him. The day after we got to Brooke’s Point the other 3 team members, Marwin and Vida and Ella came and we hung out with them. On the Saturday they ran a seminar for about 40 young people. We observed them training and interacting with them. This is a group from 5 churches who work together in a local High School to engage the young people and mentor them.

We had wonderful meals there, loving the food in this area. On the last evening we had a wonderful gathering with about 20 of the local leaders, mainly fish as we were right on the beach. It’s a lovely part of the world.

Yesterday we hung around till about 2:30 pm and then caught a minibus back to PSS airport. We hung around there for about 4 hours and flew back to Manila. We got to our hotel after midnight but we weren’t in a hurry this morning as we don’t fly out till 7:00 pm.

We’ve been involved here for many years now and this work is making a real difference in the lives of many people, their families and communities. Fantastic.

We’re keeping well as we travel. Marlene hasn’t been 100% unfortunately which hasn’t made if a great trip for that reason. But she has fitted in really well and we’ve loved travelling with her.

We’ll catch you again from Indonesia soon. Enjoy a few photos we put up?

Much love to you all,

Helen and Kevin


Moving on from Indonesia

2024-03-05 to 2024-03-11

Now we’re about to leave Indonesia after some interesting times. It’s Helen’s birthday and the start of Ramadan as well so it’s a very special day. No cake for Helen!! Maybe after sunset! And for Christians, it’s the start of Lent. So, definitely no cake!

Our plan today is to drive from Salatiga in the middle of Java to Semarang on the north coast and then fly to Jakarta. We have about 6 hours there before flying on to Dubai where we’ll stop for a couple of nights.

Two words describe our time in Indonesia, HUMID and INSPIRING. After overnighting in Singapore airport after leaving the Philippines, we arrived in Pekanbaru in Sumatra for 3 days. We sweated it out there and fortunately dodged the rain that threatened and thundered around us. There we spent time with our friends A and M – no names because of security. We visited their preschool and offices and met most of their key leaders. One night Kevin spoke to about 70 young people who are emerging into leadership. Lovely, noisy, funny young people. One day Helen stayed back with M to catch up. Kevin went out to a village with A that required wading through knee-deep water in bare feet for about 1 km and a boat ride in a rather small boat in a rather large river with about 100mm of freeboard. Of course, there were no life jackets! We spent the day there visiting the people. We began with a great lunch and then visited and ate until it was almost dark and then returned to the vehicle. Phew, the boat took us almost all the way back so we didn’t have to do the wading again.

The last three days we’ve been in Salatiga almost right in the middle of Java. As well as coffee we’ve heard amazing stories of lives, families and communities being deeply changed as the team here engages with desperate people. We’re sitting in the airport reflecting and we’re kind of overawed by it all.

We’re a bit sad right now. One of our good friends and Bright Hope World partners Ken Rout died late last week. We’ve known him for more than 45 years, starting in our youth back when we lived in Levin. We frequently had him in our home when we lived in Zambia. When he began another work in East Africa we travelled with him and helped many of the people he worked with. We shared many adventures and are happy to have known him. We’ve also heard since travelling of two other friends being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

So dear friends, hope you’re doing OK? Thanks for hanging in there with us.

Much love

Helen and Kevin


Sandry

2024-03-12 to 2024-03-18

Today we ran smack bang into poverty unimaginable. Frankly, I don’t know how some people can get out of bed, actually off the floor every morning. The woman and her 11 year old son have nothing. She scrapes together $US85 a month to pay the rent by begging from people. The local church which is very poor helps her with $US4 for food a month, that’s all they can afford. Her husband died leaving her penniless. He had sold all their possessions to buy alcohol and died. Clever boy! What’s the future for people like this? It makes me sandry (sad and angry!)

We’re in Egypt now, been here almost a week. We left Indonesia on Helen’s birthday last Monday and flew to Dubai. We had 2 nights there and met some of our team coming out of Zimbabwe. We also met a young man from Uganda, Emma who was part of an orphan programme we began there about 15 years ago. He’s working in Dubai to make money to set up his business and family back home. It’s not working out great but he’s a lovely young man and we were glad to encourage him and hear his story. We also met John Stanley from the US who would be travelling with us in Egypt for the next few days.

On to Egypt. On the first day we were at a vocational training centre with a bunch of students who we spoke to and encouraged. Helen got her nails done by one of the students from a previous course at the centre.

We then headed off to Alexandria by minibus for 2 nights. We visited the amazing library there one morning and early afternoon debriefed with a group of people who have been managing the rollout of a rather large loan programme over the past 5 years. We’ve just completed our engagement with them and it was great to hear what’s been happening in the families who have accessed loans. More than 650 of them.

Then lunch at around 3 pm. 8 plates of seafood, not ordinary sized plates, very large plates and not that many people to eat it all. But we made a serious attempt I have to say, rather proudly! My goodness, Egyptian hospitality is right up there! At least it’s only 2 meals a day most days here.

Sunday we went to church and Kevin spoke and after that drove back to Cairo. The roads are amazing, 5 lanes at least in each direction, the driving, not so good! You need 5 lanes to overtake one vehicle! That night we grabbed a shawarma along from the place we’re staying and ate it on the street, very nice it was and not very large! Unfortunately, the adjacent shop, Gelato, was closed much to Helen’s disgust! Who would be here at Ramadan!

Today, poverty, illness, dirt and desperation. But hope as well as we also met some who are making a go of life with loans and small businesses. Pretty encouraging at the end of the day.

Catch you again soon,

Much love

Helen and Kevin


More going on in Egypt

2024-03-19 to 2024-03-25

Another week has flown in Egypt. Every day there’s been another adventure, more people to meet and situations to assess. Let me fill you in a bit by day.

Tuesday saw us (Helen, Kevin and John Stanley from the USA) drive across town to visit a programme that our friend Sawsan oversees. It’s for poor, Christian women who are struggling to make ends meet. Most are solo mothers and most don’t have any employment. About 80 came and they had a programme where they sang and Sawsan spoke to them to encourage them and then they were all given food packs to help them out a little. Helen prayed with several of the women, she’s a bit of a magnet for the women wherever we go. We then had a late lunch with our good friends here.

Wednesday was similar to yesterday, but we went this time to a programme about an hour away to visit a group that helps refugees. The refugees come from Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Eritrea and are stuck here. We’ve visited this group before. The way they give themselves to these people is impressive, serving 4,000 families 1.e. around 25,000 people.

Thursday was Mother’s Day in Egypt and we attended a programme at the school that Nathan directs. There were lots of great presentations, the outstanding one an Egyptian cultural dance. We then headed about an hour away to visit a programme for recovering drug addicts. 16 guys whose lives up to this time have been ruined by drugs and everything that goes with drug addiction. On the way home we called in to the Cave Church and then dropped John off at the airport to fly to the USA.

Friday is a day off here for the Muslims and Helen and I caught an Uber south to the city of Helwan where we spent the day with our partners and friends and their family. They are working with very poor rubbish collectors whose livelihoods and houses were all swept away in a flood 4 years ago. We have a lovely time and met several of the people they are serving. They both have jobs and spend their weekends with the poor.

A few minutes ago we got back from 3 days away in the city of Assiut. We left on Saturday and drove 4½ hours to the city and had several meetings with the team we partner with. They told us about the progress of the sewing training and factory and the 3 education centres they operate. We also heard another presentation about a new opportunity for the establishment of a centre for disabled children and their treatment. Serious thinking required.

On Sunday Kevin spoke at a church in the morning and then we went to visit a lady for lunch, and you’ve not seen a feast like it, check out the photo? We then had a break and met with another guy who made a presentation to us before going to the large church we are partnering with. It’s an amazing place and impacting the lives of so many people. About 300 people gathered for the meeting.

This morning, we visited Father Matthew, a larger-than-life Coptic priest who is serving the poor in rather magnificent ways. He has established a hotel for poor rural believers who come to Assiut for medical or hospital care. There are 16 rooms and 37 beds. As well, he manages a bunch of 350 volunteers who cook 360 meals a day and deliver them all around the city. They are rostered on twice a month and there is a list of people wanting to volunteer. We hung out with them for a bit and then hopped into our vehicle and drove back to Cairo. We’re pretty weary and ready for a day off! Even though the road was good, at 170 km/h it’s not an entirely comfortable experience.

Anyway friends, we’re into the last week of our travel here and are starting to look forward to heading home. Helen gets home on Good Friday and Kevin the following Wednesday with some days in Ethiopia.

Much love to you all,

Helen and Kevin