Happy Birthday Mandela!

Today is former South African President Nelson Mandela’s 94^th birthday. Happy Birthday to a historic and wonderful man, leader, and humanitarian! To honor him we at Global Challenge Expeditions held a “Madiba Market”. Madiba is Mandela’s Xhosa name. The kids from Global’s high school (GLA) handed out “Madiba bucks” in the townships, and the people could bring their “Madiba bucks” to our little stations that were scattered all throughout the townships, and they could exchange each ticket for one item of– either clothing, soup with bread, cake, oranges, a blanket,  etc…. They had several tickets each to spend.

We had so much fun.  Several of us made big pots of soup (I made chicken and rice soup), as it is our winter here and pretty chilly. Emi was a great helper too, and she enjoyed yelling “Happy Madiba Day” as she handed out rolls while mommy handed out soup.

Just wanted to give you a glimpse of what went on today. It was really an honor to be a part of it all. Thank you guys for making it possible for us to do things like this. You will someday be rewarded for every single seed you’ve also sewn into us, as we are your hands on the ground here! Here are a few pics from today.

We love you lots,

Jodi

….. I haven’t forgotten PART 2 of my other Blog. There are just a couple of details I need to take care of and then I will tell you the whole GREAT story  J

The Birth of New Dreams in the Deetlefs Family!

 Goodness gracious! So much has been happening with us lately, that we haven’t even had a chance to tell you about it. You know how there are times you wait and wait for years and it seems like nothing is really happening, and then SUDDENLY everything happens at once?  Well, we seem to be in the midst of one of those SUDDENLY times.

I think you all know about Marius’ “Soul Adventure”.  If you haven’t seen it, check out his video at www.gcex.org. He is very excited about this new Global Challenge 3 month journey that he is pioneering. We have had several people inquiring for applications for Feb. 2013’s maiden journey through Africa.  It will be a great vehicle for young people to be discipled and serve others, as they travel to Kenya and back on a 3-month journey via motorcycles. The funds for Marius’s motorcycle are coming in day by day too, so we’re believing that he will get his bike soon and be moving on to the training and equipping phase for his 2013 departure.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch  :)  many wonderful things have been happening for me too. I described it to a friend the other day by saying, “It’s as if I’ve just woken up from a 10-year long creative coma!”  Fresh, new creative ideas are coming to me daily.  There’s so much good stuff, that I am going to break it up into 2 blogs. The first will give you the background, and the next one will tell you my exciting news…

It all started with the wives’ weekend when I catered the food and helped to create the atmosphere for the weekend. I had so much fun and have been praying that God would show me a way to be creative like this more often.

About the same time (just a few weeks ago) the Ithemba Community Center where I’ve been working came under new leadership.  They’ve decided to mainstream the 5 English-speaking girls who I’ve been working with for the past 1-½ years into the bigger after-school group. Joy, the new director, has great vision, and there is more structure, with discipleship groups for all the kids, homework time, and then extra-curricular time. I will be able to visit them at their homes, but no longer at the after school program b/c she wants them to learn in their own language instead of English.  So…. Joy asked me to serve Ithemba in a new way – by helping to chair the fund-raising committee for Ithemba, and help raise money for their healthy meal program (they feed all of these >150 kids a healthy meal Mon-Fri, and need help to continue doing so).  She also asked if I would be interested in doing a puppet show some afternoons during the extra-curricular time.

That same day I took Emi to the clinic and met Gloria, one of the precious ladies who serve at Ithemba, and we took her home. Gloria works in the kitchen - washing the dishes and mopping the floors - every single day. She is always so bright and full of joy and smiles. She's one of my favorite ladies. She looks so nice, and she is always smiling!  The day that I drove her home, I first drove through the nice neighborhood, then through the little government houses, then through a rougher neighborhood with shacks, then an even rougher part with smaller shacks, and then we reached Gloria's neighborhood, that looked like they had simply picked up scrap materials off the side of the road and pieced her “house” together. I seriously think several sections of that house are made with pressboard (the stuff that sucks up water) and it rains here ALOT. When I drove up, I just couldn't believe my eyes, and then I went in and saw that she doesn't even have electricity! How does she show up to work looking that good each day? I really have no idea. Anyway, I want to make more of a difference in her life and in the lives of the women who are working and serving at Ithemba. In the midst of their rough lives and difficult circumstances, and getting paid next to nothing, they are still giving to these kids every single day and making a big difference in their lives.

I’ve been seeking God as to how I can better serve them, and I'm thinking one of the things I could do is start making dinner for the six of them once a week and taking it to their homes. I know from being a mom and a wife that after a hard day's work it would be a BIG blessing to me if someone showed up with dinner for me and my family! I know that by doing this I will become more aware of other needs they have as I did after visiting Gloria, as well as hopefully become a closer friend so I can pray with them and their families and help in other practical ways like maybe even building Gloria a new small house one day! Cool huh?

And that brings me to the cool part – a way I believe can help meet all of these needs: money to help feed the kids at Ithemba, puppet shows to help disciple and develop relationships with the kids and moms of the community, helping the women who work at Ithemba earn some extra money to help their families, use my creativity on a more regular basis, and help our family make up a big chunk that's missing in our financial support....….  I believe I may have found the answers to each of these challenges in a simple little closet – “Emi’s Closet.”  (Part 2 Coming Soon……)

Love,

jodi

Here it is!! Check out the video- it tells Marius's story of Soul Adventure...

Wives Weekend a Huge Success!

Thank you so much for praying for our relax. refresh. revive. weekend. Eighteen ladies came to the first ever Wives Weekend and it was so much better than I even imagined. I really appreciate your prayers and comments. I created a shutterfly photo book to help paint a better picture for you of how the weekend went. I will blog more about my time with my best friend Juri, as she and her family visited with us for 2 weeks, and it was truly a gift from God!

Click on the link below to view the photo book and recipes that I made during the weekend. Some of them included are: Bruschetta, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Italian Pasta Salad with homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette, Hawaiian Chicken Salad, and Butternut Coconut Soup. Please check it out!!

http://relaxrefreshrevive.shutterfly.com


lots and lots of love from S. Africa,
jodi

p.s. Thank you also for praying for my health. Although I did have a bad cold, God was very merciful during that weekend and helped me have plenty of energy for the kitchen. Unfortunately, I haven't totally recovered and as of yesterday it has turned into a pretty bad case of bronchitis. Please keep praying for me to get well. Thanks!

Pray for Jodi this weekend

Hey Guys!

I have something I would really appreciate you praying about this weekend. Myself, along with 2 good friends, are hosting a women's retreat for Global Challenge - the organization we work for here - as well as for our local church ladies. There will be 18 women attending our “Relax. Refresh. Revive.” Conference, and I am so excited. 

We’ve been planning and praying for weeks, and the weekend is almost here. I am in charge of the hospitality - including all of the meals, so please pray with me:

§  That I remain WELL and not get sick. Emi has been very sick this week with a bad cold and I have felt it trying to get me too. I really am praying that God will protect me from this cold!!

§        

            That the ladies coming would arrive safely (it’s about an hour’s drive) and be lavishly blessed and loved by God this weekend. I want them to feel spoiled by Him. I’ve made welcome baskets for everyone, and each lady coming will have a handmade card and flower on their bed.  Another treat is my friend Juri who is visiting from Japan is going to make each of them a Hawaiian flower lei,  and I hope they are really going to be blessed by the food and the way we will be serving them.

§       

           Lastly, please pray that God would help me during the weekend in the kitchen to get everything done well and to not freak out in the process. 

I really believe it will be a much needed encouragement to so many of these women who serve in their ministries every day! Thanks for praying with me. I will send pictures after the weekend and let you know how it went.

Lots and lots of love,

jodi

Exciting News to Announce.........

I am writing this blog from beautiful Swaziland, and from where I sit I can see our old house. I used to push Emi in a stroller around this neighborhood when she was just a little baby.  Now she is talking and running alongside our friend Kriek as she pushes her little baby girl in a stroller. I cannot believe how much can happen in 18 months! Visiting Swaziland is such an incredible blessing and my heart is so full!

Jodi and Emi and I are half way through our 2-½ week trip, and I just can’t wait another minute before sharing some exciting news with you…….  

I’m going to be launching a NEW JOURNEY within Global Challenge Expeditions…

You guys know that we’ve been here working with Global for the past year, and I’ve been helping with training and with the teams’ mid-year debrief sessions, etc. Well, now that we are settled in here, I’ve been asked to pioneer the first ever trip Global mission trip into Africa……….. ON MOTORCYCLES!

That’s right – motorcycles! And with this mode of transportation we will be able to reach villages off the beaten path that are seldom visited by outsiders. This is one of the most exciting journeys ever! It will have the same characteristics as our Explore Africa journey – focusing on discipleship and serving in orphanages, helping churches, and coming alongside long-term missionaries. We’ll just have the added Adventure of traveling this rugged African continent on motorcycles.

One of the fundamental values of Global Challenge is living a simple lifestyle, and this will mean for us hardcore traveling in all kinds of weather on bikes, sleeping in tents, and cooking our food on little camp stoves.

Global’s other journeys are yearlong journeys, but in order to balance family life with this exciting new pioneering phase – my trip will only be 3 months long. And I will still have my other responsibilities at Global with training and debrief. This is just another place within Global Challenge that I’m finding to spread my wings and fly!

So………… Here is the crazy part – in the next 70 days I am attempting to raise $7,000 – to buy a used motorcycle capable of making this kind of trip, get the necessary paperwork in place, and gear up for the first journey. The reason I want to try and go now is 3-fold.

Firstly, our Explore Africa team will be in Kenya in June and one of my jobs this year is to facilitate their mid-year debrief, making sure the leaders and mission participants are all doing ok and facilitating any needed crisis management.  I’m responsible for my own transportation there of course, and I’m thinking that rather than spend $1200 on airfare, I would rather put that money towards a bike for my new journey.

Second, there will be a SERV mission trip in Lodwar, Kenya also in June, working at their orphanage, House of Hope, and I would love to connect with them and help serve there.

Third, this trip will serve as my “scouting trip” for next year’s journey. (We are planning to launch this new Africa trip on motorcycles in Jan 2013). It will help me establish a budget, navigate the route and see how difficult the border crossings will be.

Lately my heart has been beating like crazy as this is going to fulfill a life-long dream of mine. What an AMAZING privilege for me as I believe I will be writing a legacy that could inspire Emi and even her kids one day, as well as mobilizing young people into missions and leading them through wild Africa.

If you feel moved to make a donation to help me pioneer this trip, please go online to www.servintl.org and donate to Marius Deetlefs with the reference TWO. 

Please keep us in your prayers, as Jodi and I trust God to lead us in this exciting new opportunity with Global. We love and appreciate you so much!

Blessings,

Marius & family

Teams headed all over the world!

The Teams were commissioned on Friday,  and are now headed out all over the world..…

This year's training is over, and the 5 teams have left South Africa. Those of us staying behind are  experiencing a bit of empty nest syndrome. The past 8 weeks has been a show of God’s glory as we experienced the transformation of so many young lives. The truth is that Jesus is pursuing our hearts and continues to pour out fresh revelation of the truth of the very simple and uncomplicated Gospel. What a privilege!

My highlight happened Friday morning 6am when I had the privilege of being part of the baptizing two students in the Indian Ocean here in Jeffreysbay. We are indeed making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We are busy debriefing our training for the next week and then our family will be going on a short road trip to visit our old friends in Swaziland.

I also have some VERY exciting news about an upcoming project, so stay tuned as I will share that really soon in the coming days...... 

Blessings

Marius