Dear Family and Friends,
Hello again from South Africa! As you can tell, we don't have a lot of opportunity here to get on a computer, and I have but a few short minutes before my time runs out at the Internet cafe. I'm now in Durban, a beach city along the Indian Ocean, and want you all to know that I am safe, healthy, and well.
We just spent an extraordinary five days in the Drakensberg Mountaings (between here and Joberg, near Losotho), observing community initiatives in Zulu villages there. We were able to meet many extraordinary missioners and members of the Zulu community, working together in all kinds of situations--youth empowerment through microfinance, HIV home hospice care, a beading industry for local women. It was extraordinary, really, and inspiring. I was particularly blessed by our hosts, the Borgmans, who shared their beautiful home and awe-inspiring view of the mountains with us, as well as their lives and faith. As a particular treat, we were also able to go horseback riding through a game park; amazing to be so near to herds of zebras and giraffes!
Tomorrow morning we leave Durban by airplane for Cape Town, a 2-hour flight west to the Atlantic side of the country. There, we will observe the work of a non-profit run out of the University of Cape Town, and then travel with Val's friends a bit outside the city to Paarl (wine country) to observe a ministry there that works with youth through sports and camp. Next Monday, we'll begin the long trek home to Boston!
Thanks for your continued prayers for us. I've been a bit more homesick this weekend than before, but am greatly encouraged in God and in the many here for whom reconcliliation and hope are practical, and intentional.
I miss you all, especially my husband and boys (and my sisters...congrats on your job, Bex!). Prayers for you all.
Love to you from Durban,
Missy
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
greetings from Africa
Dear Family and Friends,
I've made it to South Africa! We arrived yesterday at 9:30 am South African time (which is 6 hours ahead of those of you on the East Cost of the U.S.). After a lengthy line through immigration and customs, we were greeted very warmly by Val's friend, Lena, and her friend, Robin. They drove us out of Johannesberg abuot 30 minutes to a smaller city just north, Pretoria. We're staying now in Robin's lovely home (Lena and her husband, Moses, are just up the street) in Pretoria. I hadn't slept even one minutes one minute on either of our flights yesterday (I don't sleep well when travelling), so I was quite tired, but awake enough to appreciate the hospitality we received from Robin, who had never met any of us before. It was like meeting long-time friends.
After a much-needed one-hour nap yesterday, we set out to see some of Pretoria. Our first stop? The mall! Talk about destroying any pre-conceptions of "Africa" I may have had! :) We exchanged our dolalrs for rand there (1 dollar=7 rand), shopped a bit, and then drove to the top of the valley in which Pretoria sets to visit the gardens around the legislative building for the entire country. Beautiful, and breathtaking views of the city. After a dinner of chicken curry, we headed quickly to bed, as we were all tired--I had only 1 hour of sleep in almost 36 hours, so it was getting painful to stay awake at that point.
Today we've spent a lovely day seeing more of Pretoria. Lena, Moses, and Robin took us to a township nearby; those of you unfamiliar with SA history should know that during apartheid (late 1940's - 1994), African blacks were forced to live in townships away from African whites. Much has changed in South Africa in just the last decade or so, but townships remain (though they are no longer mandated by law), as do squatter settlements, which we also passed. There is rich history here, friends, and to hear our hosts (Lena and Moses are black, and Robin is white) talking openly about race, about reconciliation, and about hope for the country is a humblinh experience that is certainly broadening my faith and perspective. We visited a market and stopped for lunch (spicy chicken and rice for me!), and we are preparing in a few moments to attend a traditional South African braai (prounounced "brie"), a barbeque, at the home of another friend of Val's.
So I should get going. But I wanted to thank you for your prayers--the flight here WAS long, and sleepless, and last night I awoke at 3 am feeling panicked and not knowing why. But I was grateful again to be able to pray, and to experience as I have so many times this year, the peace of Christ, and to rest knowing that others, too, were praying for me. Tomorrow we will attend church with our new friends, and Monday we will take an early morning bus (6 a.m.) for six hours to Ubuntu Partners, a ministry between here and Durban that is involved in all kinds of community development, including an AIDS orphanage and micro-enterprises. At times I struggle to comprehened how I am here, and to tink about my family so far away, and at other times am so excited to think of the all the people we will meet, and the opportunities to learn I will have. Already, in just 24 hours here, I have learned so much.
Please continue to pray for our safety and protection. And pray, also, that I will have moments for connecting with God, and finding again a deep rest and solace in Him. I hope my life, and my faith, will be very much stretched and encouraged by my time here.
I will post again when I can. Love to you all, from Africa, and especially to Jason and my boys. I really miss you.
Blessings,
Missy
I've made it to South Africa! We arrived yesterday at 9:30 am South African time (which is 6 hours ahead of those of you on the East Cost of the U.S.). After a lengthy line through immigration and customs, we were greeted very warmly by Val's friend, Lena, and her friend, Robin. They drove us out of Johannesberg abuot 30 minutes to a smaller city just north, Pretoria. We're staying now in Robin's lovely home (Lena and her husband, Moses, are just up the street) in Pretoria. I hadn't slept even one minutes one minute on either of our flights yesterday (I don't sleep well when travelling), so I was quite tired, but awake enough to appreciate the hospitality we received from Robin, who had never met any of us before. It was like meeting long-time friends.
After a much-needed one-hour nap yesterday, we set out to see some of Pretoria. Our first stop? The mall! Talk about destroying any pre-conceptions of "Africa" I may have had! :) We exchanged our dolalrs for rand there (1 dollar=7 rand), shopped a bit, and then drove to the top of the valley in which Pretoria sets to visit the gardens around the legislative building for the entire country. Beautiful, and breathtaking views of the city. After a dinner of chicken curry, we headed quickly to bed, as we were all tired--I had only 1 hour of sleep in almost 36 hours, so it was getting painful to stay awake at that point.
Today we've spent a lovely day seeing more of Pretoria. Lena, Moses, and Robin took us to a township nearby; those of you unfamiliar with SA history should know that during apartheid (late 1940's - 1994), African blacks were forced to live in townships away from African whites. Much has changed in South Africa in just the last decade or so, but townships remain (though they are no longer mandated by law), as do squatter settlements, which we also passed. There is rich history here, friends, and to hear our hosts (Lena and Moses are black, and Robin is white) talking openly about race, about reconciliation, and about hope for the country is a humblinh experience that is certainly broadening my faith and perspective. We visited a market and stopped for lunch (spicy chicken and rice for me!), and we are preparing in a few moments to attend a traditional South African braai (prounounced "brie"), a barbeque, at the home of another friend of Val's.
So I should get going. But I wanted to thank you for your prayers--the flight here WAS long, and sleepless, and last night I awoke at 3 am feeling panicked and not knowing why. But I was grateful again to be able to pray, and to experience as I have so many times this year, the peace of Christ, and to rest knowing that others, too, were praying for me. Tomorrow we will attend church with our new friends, and Monday we will take an early morning bus (6 a.m.) for six hours to Ubuntu Partners, a ministry between here and Durban that is involved in all kinds of community development, including an AIDS orphanage and micro-enterprises. At times I struggle to comprehened how I am here, and to tink about my family so far away, and at other times am so excited to think of the all the people we will meet, and the opportunities to learn I will have. Already, in just 24 hours here, I have learned so much.
Please continue to pray for our safety and protection. And pray, also, that I will have moments for connecting with God, and finding again a deep rest and solace in Him. I hope my life, and my faith, will be very much stretched and encouraged by my time here.
I will post again when I can. Love to you all, from Africa, and especially to Jason and my boys. I really miss you.
Blessings,
Missy
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
moving forward
Dear Family and Friends,
Welcome to the Team Winchell blog! Our blog is an attempt to stay connected with many of you who have followed our family's unfolding transplant story this past year, and to remain in touch especially with family and dear friends who live far away from us. But the blog is also a celebration, a rite of passage, a sign that we, as a family, are moving on. We are leaving behind transplant year and moving into a new year, a new beginning. We are leaving behind our Care Page, and leaving behind the medical updates. We are casting off the fears of last year, and the stresses, and the worries...and we are celebrating with thankful hearts ALL that our good God has done for us.
I have thought often of Lot's wife in the last two months. Many of you know the biblical narrative--she was turned to a pillar of salt for looking back at her city after she was told to flee its destruction. I always felt sympathy for her, honestly; I doubt in her shoes that I would have had strength to do differently but to look longingly at my home and my history. But lately the story has been a challenge to me, a calling to leave the year behind. To surrender. For a while I struggled to get my mind around the year, and sometimes the scarier moments--moments that were too terrifying to write down, even in my journal--would flash back and leave me in tears or haunt my sleep. Then I thought of Lot's wife, of the terror that was befalling her home, and the terror she must have felt--the way her mind, too, must have been struggling to try to make sense of it all. And she made a crucial choice, I think, a choice I didn't understand until this last month, when I had to make it for myself. And the choice is: do I try to make sense of the senseless on my own, or to trust that God is working all things together for good, just as He said He would? Will I look, with frightened eyes, or will I SEE, with faith? Will I turn around to bask in fear, or will I walk forward, in love?
And so, my friends, Team Winchell is moving on. A year of great pain is behind us, though it was not without wonders of grace and miracles of provision. And so we rejoice, for all that God did for us, and for all we can trust Him still to do on our behalf. How we are deserving of such amazing love I cannot grasp. And so I just walk on.
So far our summer has been full of movings-ons. We traveled as a family to Kansas two weeks ago to visit with my dad, his wife, and my grandmother. What a JOY it was to re-connect with family, and to re-connect with family history there; we don't get to see my Kansas family often enough, and we had a lot of fun together with them (though I'm afraid we may have tired them out!). We visited Wal-mart and Sonic a lot (not a whole lot to do in Kansas!), visited a raptor center about which the boys are still talking, and spent some quality time with family, and my very special MeeMaw. I can only pray that I live long enough to see my great-grandchildren, as she has. It was a special joy to reconnect with her again after 2 1/2 years.
After one day of recuperating (on July 4th), we ventured north to Burlington, Vermont to camp with my sister, Ginny, her husband, Matt, and my mom. What a fun time we had! It rained a ton, but we fit in a kayaking expedition (though Jason and I were worn out a bit paddling tandem kayaks with novice children in them!), some time at the beach, and LOTS of time huddled around a campfire (mmmm, S'mores). It was particularly special for Jason and me to share our love of camping and the outdoors with our sons (finally!). Previously, when Orilus had sickle cell, he couldn't sleep outside, swim in lakes or the ocean, kayak....it was a CELEBRATION to be together, and to have fun together, after our hard-fought year back to health! Special thanks to my mom and my sister for feeding us and organizing things.
We returned from Vermont on Sunday and have spent the days putting away our camping stuff (everything was soggy, and I must have done 8 loads of laundry Sunday night) and getting outside together. Today we played hours of baseball near the beach with Orilus and Jackson's friend, Joseph...the boys are trying to teach Mum (that's me) to throw in a way other than "like a girl" (which involves a silly wrist action I still struggle to overcome). sigh. Always time for learning new things. We also biked today, and got some sun (despite the clouds).
On Thursday, as many of you know, I leave for South Africa! If I can, I will post from there and update you on my travels. I'll be going with my friend, Val, and her mom, visiting a number of organizations, ministries, and a university in the hopes of designing a summer service learning experience for Gordon College students, beginning next summer. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel, observe, serve, and learn; and pray for the rest of Team Winchell as they stay home (and go to a summer day camp, and visit the beach almost daily, and go to gymnastics lessons, which they are both now taking, and...)
Celebrate with us, friends! A new beginning! Summer is Team Winchell break-out time, it feels. :)
Our warmest love to all of you who have seen us through this year, and sent gifts and messages and your love. We are so grateful, and we step forward only because you kept us walking until we crossed the transplant "finish line." Thanks, dudes.
Love to you all,
Missy
Welcome to the Team Winchell blog! Our blog is an attempt to stay connected with many of you who have followed our family's unfolding transplant story this past year, and to remain in touch especially with family and dear friends who live far away from us. But the blog is also a celebration, a rite of passage, a sign that we, as a family, are moving on. We are leaving behind transplant year and moving into a new year, a new beginning. We are leaving behind our Care Page, and leaving behind the medical updates. We are casting off the fears of last year, and the stresses, and the worries...and we are celebrating with thankful hearts ALL that our good God has done for us.
I have thought often of Lot's wife in the last two months. Many of you know the biblical narrative--she was turned to a pillar of salt for looking back at her city after she was told to flee its destruction. I always felt sympathy for her, honestly; I doubt in her shoes that I would have had strength to do differently but to look longingly at my home and my history. But lately the story has been a challenge to me, a calling to leave the year behind. To surrender. For a while I struggled to get my mind around the year, and sometimes the scarier moments--moments that were too terrifying to write down, even in my journal--would flash back and leave me in tears or haunt my sleep. Then I thought of Lot's wife, of the terror that was befalling her home, and the terror she must have felt--the way her mind, too, must have been struggling to try to make sense of it all. And she made a crucial choice, I think, a choice I didn't understand until this last month, when I had to make it for myself. And the choice is: do I try to make sense of the senseless on my own, or to trust that God is working all things together for good, just as He said He would? Will I look, with frightened eyes, or will I SEE, with faith? Will I turn around to bask in fear, or will I walk forward, in love?
And so, my friends, Team Winchell is moving on. A year of great pain is behind us, though it was not without wonders of grace and miracles of provision. And so we rejoice, for all that God did for us, and for all we can trust Him still to do on our behalf. How we are deserving of such amazing love I cannot grasp. And so I just walk on.
So far our summer has been full of movings-ons. We traveled as a family to Kansas two weeks ago to visit with my dad, his wife, and my grandmother. What a JOY it was to re-connect with family, and to re-connect with family history there; we don't get to see my Kansas family often enough, and we had a lot of fun together with them (though I'm afraid we may have tired them out!). We visited Wal-mart and Sonic a lot (not a whole lot to do in Kansas!), visited a raptor center about which the boys are still talking, and spent some quality time with family, and my very special MeeMaw. I can only pray that I live long enough to see my great-grandchildren, as she has. It was a special joy to reconnect with her again after 2 1/2 years.
After one day of recuperating (on July 4th), we ventured north to Burlington, Vermont to camp with my sister, Ginny, her husband, Matt, and my mom. What a fun time we had! It rained a ton, but we fit in a kayaking expedition (though Jason and I were worn out a bit paddling tandem kayaks with novice children in them!), some time at the beach, and LOTS of time huddled around a campfire (mmmm, S'mores). It was particularly special for Jason and me to share our love of camping and the outdoors with our sons (finally!). Previously, when Orilus had sickle cell, he couldn't sleep outside, swim in lakes or the ocean, kayak....it was a CELEBRATION to be together, and to have fun together, after our hard-fought year back to health! Special thanks to my mom and my sister for feeding us and organizing things.
We returned from Vermont on Sunday and have spent the days putting away our camping stuff (everything was soggy, and I must have done 8 loads of laundry Sunday night) and getting outside together. Today we played hours of baseball near the beach with Orilus and Jackson's friend, Joseph...the boys are trying to teach Mum (that's me) to throw in a way other than "like a girl" (which involves a silly wrist action I still struggle to overcome). sigh. Always time for learning new things. We also biked today, and got some sun (despite the clouds).
On Thursday, as many of you know, I leave for South Africa! If I can, I will post from there and update you on my travels. I'll be going with my friend, Val, and her mom, visiting a number of organizations, ministries, and a university in the hopes of designing a summer service learning experience for Gordon College students, beginning next summer. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel, observe, serve, and learn; and pray for the rest of Team Winchell as they stay home (and go to a summer day camp, and visit the beach almost daily, and go to gymnastics lessons, which they are both now taking, and...)
Celebrate with us, friends! A new beginning! Summer is Team Winchell break-out time, it feels. :)
Our warmest love to all of you who have seen us through this year, and sent gifts and messages and your love. We are so grateful, and we step forward only because you kept us walking until we crossed the transplant "finish line." Thanks, dudes.
Love to you all,
Missy
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