We are meeting Namibia.

Sorry - I will figure out pics soon. I’ve been taking them on my ipad and phone, and don’t have the cable to connect them to my computer yet. Andy’s phone has internet but he is at the store. Banana walnut pancakes tonight to celebrate Julene and Todop’s bdays!

So, as I look back at our first week in Africa.

The Ark is a wonderful refuge and sometimes I am a bit sad that CHI won’t have these children’s homes any more. However, I think they are going in a powerful and God centered direction with the Care Points. They will be able to serve and enrich the lives of many many more children. The need is so great – there are literally hundreds of thousands of orphaned children in this country. There are 3 young boys 6 young girls under 13 and then then a group of 7 young men in high school left at the Ark. They will not take anyone else except for emergencies, and then only those 12 and older. There are social workers in Namibia that have other options but it seems CHI has been a go-to option for a long time. 

Namibia seems to be in a good place politically. They became an independent nation in 1990. Today is Independence Day. They have their share of challenges. I am focused on learning more about the educational system. I think many of my fellow Americans would like to know where the kids from the Ark and the kids in general will go as adults. As I look at want ads in the papers, they all want very highly educated people for the jobs listed. Interesting. The school system is not good but the government made it free to all in the past couple years. The problem is, the teachers are poorly trained (the official language for education became English in 1990 and most of them were not educated in English). When schooling became free, more students poured in but not more teachers. The schools are overcrowded. Also, the students still have to buy uniforms and books and many can't. It's so complex! 

I am collecting stories of the kids that have already grown up in the Ark and will share them with you soon. Most immediately, Aloysius "Alaska" is a focus for us right now because he is the first one to actually attend the university after grade 12. Others have qualified but life has gotten in the way. This handsome, charismatic, but seemingly young man left the very isolated and quiet and sheltered life at the Ark and is independently navigating the city. He says his biggest challenge is loneliness. He couldn’t wait for us to pick him up yesterday and texted Heidi, a girl who is taking online courses at grew up at the Ark, about 100 times to find out where we were Tues and yesterday. He has no one but the house parents, Rita and Christian, and you can see that this is his family. The relief in Rita's eyes when we committed to help Alaska monthly for the next 3 years of college and to get him a lap top while we are here. Well mom’s out there, you know how she feels. She was holding her breath, waiting for God to provide. The idea that all of us can be part of him answering prayers is like nothing else …

There is a girl who got into the university to study law, Victoria. She just had a baby and will work for a year or so to get on her feet. I hope she comes back to school as I hear she is very smart academically. Please guard yourself from the temptation to judge the system for another fatherless baby. People make choices and this very smart and well informed girl was with a boyfriend when she was supposed to be elsewhere. Another organization is working with her now and our last team from MOO is in contact with her too. The great thing about Victoria is that she has family connections, qualifies for free tuition for the college because of her amazing grades, and has family who is educated like a sibling who in or through college. She sounds like a very astute person in making her life work. I’m sure it is much harder than she thought it would be now that she is a mother.

There are 2 boys in 12^th grade this year, A.T. and Albertus. Both were gone last weekend – one to play in a soccer tournament and one to visit relatives. A.T. wants to go to college. Albertus dreams of opening his own business right after high school. I don’t have more details on them then that at this point.

One boy here, Liode (pronounced Leward), is the only one I see independently working very hard on academics. He has been here a long time. I am told he arrived very traumatized and would isolate. He is hysterically funny at times (for the talent show he did a very serious romantic dance with a huge pink teddy bear named Darling). He seems reluctant to get close to us; how many times can kids get close to short term volunteers who disappear?

A major theme of our trip is that perfection, and expecting perfection from any person or man-made system is just misguided and damaging. The Ark is not perfect. I wish education was stressed more. I wish the kids’ horizons were widened more. On the other hand, they are soooo blessed to be here! CHI isn’t perfect. I wish it was easier to understand all the pieces without coming and meeting everyone myself. I will communicate what we are supporting as a church and community much differently when I get home. But…these people WORK! Every one of them. I feel like a slug compared to every single person I have met with CHI. In fact, I feel like I am in slow motion but I hope that means I’m learning more by observing and helping. MOO is not perfect. We could do so much more and we could be much more focused on eternity (as these people are) than we are. But, people in the beautiful Mission Viejo need God just as much as the people in Africa do and we do meet God and his grace at MOO. I know I did, and do! Andy and I are not perfect but we are his and God says that is enough. Now, because we are so grateful for the freedom and worth we know we have because of Him, we are here, hoping to do more good than harm.