Website Hacked

Hi everyone! I am so sorry for the inconvenience, but our site is down because someone hacked into it and gave it a virus! We are working through the problems and hope to have it fixed very soon!

We have 3 great new t-shirts and we will be updating our canvases shortly, so please check back :)

Party Animal, Animal Party

Gavin and I spent last weekend in Austin, Texas...we totally fell in love with the city! Great Tex-Mex, amazing mom n' pop restaurants, funky and eclectic shops, a beautiful river walk and great mountain hikes...but best of all, we got to spend the weekend with some dear friends! We had a blast with Rebecca Gregory, Kate Millea and Jess Mulvaney (all three of them went on trips to Ithemba this sumer). They have been working HARD over the past two months crocheting stuffed animals for each and every child at Ithemba. While we were in Austin, Becca and Kate threw a "Party Animal, Animal Party" at a local restaurant to sponsor the animals! For $40 you can purchase a stuffed animal that will be given to a child at Ithemba for Christmas...we are SO excited to be able to give these animals to the kids and watch their smiles grow. They were each hand made with love, care and a lot of hard work!

If you would like to host a Party Animal Part, e-mail me at lindsay@luo-setfree.org. The animals are for sale for $40 on our website. www.luo-setfree.org We leave for J'Bay tonight with a group from the Orange Conference...don't forget to follow us on twitter for up to the minute updates on the children and our current project! www.twitter.com/luosetfree

::Safe House::

Here are a few new pictures of the safe house...the landscaping is not quite complete and we are still adding new furniture and things but we are SO excited about the progress so far and so thankful for all of your generous support! We will start moving children in soon and I know they are going to LOVE their new home!!

LOVE, in action.

Prayer.

Becca and Sive.

Themba.

Sussa.

Family.

Seana and his sisters.

Lisakazi...and the "Animal Party"

Beautiful ladies.

Mary, Joan and Queen.

Sibling love...

Becca and Matt

Painting.

Reflections: Becca Gregory

Grateful Hearts...

Wow...

I can't believe we left Jeffreys Bay a week ago today. I still keep looking back through our pictures and reliving the moments...wondering where the kids are...how they are doing and praying their future will be different because of the work Ithemba is doing.

I think a few of us are planning to go back...maybe in February...wanna come?

Honestly, we've come home with a few projects we've decided to adopt - so I plan to keep the blog going to help those interested stay updated on what we're up to.

Here are few needs we'd like to conquer:

- $3500 for furniture (beds, linens, tables, chairs, etc) so that we can move 16 kids into the Safe House.

- Crocheting hands...the Party Animal Animal Party was a huge hit with the kids...so much so that we need to make 40 more to make sure every kid in the morning sessions get to have one...so if you can make 'em...let us know. If you'd like to send an animal to Africa - $50 does the trick:)



- Auction items for a fundraiser to be held in Atlanta in October.

Let me know if you want more details on how you can help!

XoXo,
Becca, Rich & Matt

Reflections from J'Bay by Jess Mulvaney...

Yesterday it was raining. It rained all Wednesday night. When it rains in the township, read- shanty town, everyone and everything gets wet and muddy. Most of the shanties have dirt floors. The water just runs on in. Even those who live in government houses, 12 x 10 feet, one room, cinder-block homes, have water running in under the door. The kids will not want to walk in the rain, or they won’t have dry clothes to wear. There is a lot of pride in the Xhosa culture. So they won’t come to Ithemba. There were only five kids there in the morning when we got there. We spent the morning with them, and painting the scratched-up tables in their classrooms.

In the afternoon we put together pencil boxes full of school supplies for the preschool children. Over dinner Rich asked Gavin what his dream for Luo would be over the next five years. I wish you all could have heard him answer off the cuff and from the heart.

He spoke of their desire to go deep instead of wide with their ministry. He talked about seeing Jeffery’s Bay be a leading example in South Africa; breaking racial barriers between the white and the black and colored communities. He said he would like to see the township women have self-worth, see the township men change their bad attitudes and embrace real male -leadership. He would like to see these precious kids grow up with real dreams and hopes, with the belief that they can be something more then every ancestor that has come before them. That they would all would know Jesus. He said “Will that happen in five years? Maybe not. But I believe by praying for things that only God can do, is the way your faith to continues to grow.”

Not a bad dream to chase.

Least of These...

*taken from Becca's blog*

Friends,

Our time at Ithemba is coming to a close - but as a group we have decided this is not "goodbye"...instead it's a "til next time."

Our time here has been truly life-changing. I don't think any of us will walk into a Target, or grocery or department store, or even our own home with the same eyes we came with...there has definitely been an internal shift - a change of mindset. I hope that when we find ourselves wrestling with contentment, we now have a name and a face of someone we've met that is currently living with so much less and has a joy and peace that is contagious.

We started the day as we have many others - playing with kids - just lovin' on them, playing beauty parlor, pool, kicking the ball, throwing football, hula hoops, etc...but something was definitely special about today knowing it would be our last...bittersweet. I spent most of my time playing with Asum, Mary & Lisacahze - they are some of the ones that have captured my heart. Unfortunately, it was too wet to do our fun day/field day - so we left the toys w/ the teachers to do when it warms up. After we put the kids down for nap time, we headed over to SuperTubes to watch the waves roll in and pick up some lunch.

After lunch, we headed back over to Ithemba to play games and say our goodbyes. A couple of the boys, Simphiwe and his cousin, gave us a tour of the township where they live. (The city is divided into three - the whites, the coloreds, and the blacks.) They live in the black community which is the poorest of the three. I can't begin to put into words what we saw. As we walked, we handed out sandwiches we had made to the kids we met and I prayed alot as we walked the area. I know our God is good and He is Sovereign, but sights like today still wreck my heart with questions of mercy and justice. I think the hardest part was knowing that Precious, an orphaned HIV positive kid that goes to Ithemba, was running into one of the shanties we walked by. I just wanted to scream out her name, scoop her up, and take her home. (I will post a pic of her later that will melt your heart.) Leaving her behind was hard.

Another moment that will be forever etched in my mind was Matthew walking up to this cute little boy, laying on his belly with his head propped up on a picnic table bench just staring at us as we walked by - and as soon as he saw Matt's hand out with a sandwich just for him, he's eyes and body perked up and he jumped down and took it and then smiled at Matt and gave him a high five...and then took a big bite. As his sister, it was a very proud moment. The smile on Matt's face was just as precious as the kids...so rewarding to have witnessed it...for that I am grateful.

My Richie Rich moment of the day was watching him with as many kids as could fit in his lap watching cartoons off in the corner with some of the afternoon kids. He was just giggling along with 'em - very cute.

I am not quite sure what to do with all we have seen and heard today. I take comfort in the fact that safe house is almost done and some of the children will have a place to go to and perhaps have a chance at a life of possibilities and choices.

For now, I am just pondering what these verses and hoping God will continue to show us where and how to stand in the gap and do for those who can't do it for themselves.

Matthew 25:37-40 (NIV)

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Micah 6:8 (NIV)

⁸ He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

With grateful hearts,

Becca, Matt & Rich