The MuddBus - A Family Adventure

A Story about a weak moment and a Tutu

  

It is with some regret that I share with you a commitment that I made a weak moment of my life.  As many of you know our family has a passion to care for the orphan and I transitioned from the business world to work for HopeChest in Colorado Springs.  Working within our calling has been a blessing and has been fueled all the more as I have visited the HopeChest operations in Russia and Africa over recent months.

 

Fundraising is a critical component of my role here at HopeChest and we tend to get very creative when trying to gain support for our operations.  In June of this year a couple of our volunteer supporters challenged our leadership to run a race in Richmond Virginia to raise funds for the ministry.  Vince Giordano and I agreed to do so although Tom Davis had ‘prior commitments’.  No big deal huh….  Something to motivate me to get in shape while also raising funds for the ministry.  There was one condition –

 

I have to run it in a tutu!

 

I need to turn this humiliation into Kingdom Fruit!  This is where you come in.  I will be selling pictures of me crossing the finish line in the garb for the following:

 

Wallet =   $ 25

5 X 7 =    $ 100

8.5 X11 =    $ 250

 

100% of the donation will support the HopeChest orphan care ministry and is tax deductible.

 

Please email me at rmudd@hopechest.org if you are inclined to order a photo and support HopeChest.

 

Team Update

Over the past 5 days we have had one compelling opportunity followed by another.  The team that has been lead on this trip to Swaziland is strategic, prayerful and ready to take ownership for their part in the ministry here.  It has been a pleasure to serve alongside this team.

 

We currently have 12 locations in central and north Swaziland that are supported by partners.  Each night the team has reassembled until late in the evening to consider each of the 6 new locations that we have visited to determine who is best suited for each (followed by a spirited hand of cards).  The number of additional CarePoint Partners will be between 4 and 6 depending on how it all sorts out.  It also goes without saying that our team one the ground including Jumbo, Kriek, the D-team and Pastor’s Walter, Sam and Gift have and are doing an exceptional job.

 

I have seen the orphan in the depths of poverty in the Far East, Central America and Russia.  This is my first trip to Africa and while Swazi people are peaceful, there should be no romantic notions about life in this country.  A 45% HIV rate, an average life span of 28 years, over 10% of the population are orphans, a 60% + unemployment rate and 40% have the opportunity to go to school.  The population has declined from 1.3 million in 2005 to 900,000 in 2009.  It is a quiet, painful and consistent implosion of a nation.  The cost is measured one dream, one life, one family and one community at a time.  

 

While the success of the trip is an answer to prayer and a result of hard work, the greatest testimony comes through the stories of lives, and hopefully generations, that are altered because the hands and feet of the Kingdom are responding to His call.  I find that the pain and joy of this nation is best found by asking each person I encounter what is their dream for their life.

 

Imagine a 5 year old who is a 10 mile walk from the closest school but can articulate a plan, school names and his college preference even though he lives in a child headed home.

 

Imagine a grandmother who has lost all 7 of her children to HIV and at 70 years of age, not having eaten for over 3 days, takes care of 9 grandchildren in a 10 X 14 home.

 

Imagine a 23 year old who speaks 3 languages, has a 3 year old child, loves the Lord but has not been able to find any work for the past 3 years.

 

These are 3 real life stories that were encountered during our house visits today.  God’s heart breaks for those created in His likeness.

 

Titus 3:8 says ‘I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.  These things are excellent and profitable for people’.

 

‘Devote’ does not notate simply a spirit of compassion or feelings of sorrow for those in need, it compels one to action that is not contained in a ‘day of service’ but rather a commitment to living a life that holds others as more valuable than yourself and results in your life of charity and sacrifice sustainably meeting the needs of those in pain.  This happens one life at a time.  Do something now!  God is bigger than the statistics.

small differences.

So good to be back in Africa—this time in Swaziland. My name is Hannah Leman and I am new to the HopeChest staff. I have broken into Bob’s blog to share about some of my experiences in Swazi this far. It has already been such a joy to be a part of the HopeChest team and be able to see the impact that both AIM and HopeChest have on these small communities here in Swazi. Although I have seen growth and progress at these CarePoints —It is hard to not get overwhelmed by how far there is to go. But yesterday God taught many of us that a little really can go a long way. When we arrived at Thembeni CarePoint there were only two kids near the playground. Many of us approached them and greeted them, “Sawubona”. One little boy stood there, unable to reach out and shake our hands, holding onto a playground pole in fear. You could see how sacred this little boy was to be touched. Many of us attempted to make him feel comfortable—but nothing seemed to be helping and his fear seemed to be getting worse, as he even wet himself. As time went on, many more kids gathered- we played netball and kicked around soccer balls., Todd even impressed us with this juggling skills. Meanwhile, the little boy watched, still scared to come and join. I was amazed watching Bob take his attempt to welcome the little boy to play. He went over and bent down and started talking to the little boy… I became distracted pushing some girls on a nearby swing, but it wasn’t before long until I checked back on the situation. I started smiling to see Bob and the little boy playing soccer. The little boy was grinning from ear to ear and his short little legs (he was only about 2 or 3 years old) were trying desperately to kick the ball with enough power to get it to Bob. Bob sat on the ground and tossed the ball with the little boy, back and forth. The demeanor of this boy drastically changed. In the short amount of time that we were there Bob was able to make a connection with this boy and show him that there was nothing to be afraid of. Little instances like this remind me what we are here for, remind me of the before and after and the progress that can and will be made. We may think we are not impacting these kids but yesterday it was very obviously how love can makes a difference. Some of these kids are never held or hugged and it is a blessing to be able to spend time with these children. Here is a link for some pictures that I have taken of the kids at various CarePoints- also, some pictures of Bob and that cute little boy: mac.gallery.com/hopechest

additional blog to check out: knowntome.net

A Picture of ‘What is’ and ‘What can be’

It is Thursday afternoon in Swaziland and we have had two days with a great team taking  a look at currently sponsored Carepoints in the region along with emerging locations that desperately desire to be sponsored.  Before I dive in to provide existing sponsors updates, I first want to reiterate what anyone who preceeded already knows which is that the staff on the ground is top notch.  We have spent the last two days with Jumbo, Kriek, Scott and the D-Team.  Three words come to mind – Committed, Capable and Joyful.

 

We arrived in Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon and made the drive to Swaziland, arriving around lunch on Wednesday.  Our first stop was the Balekane Carepoint sponsored by Vanguard church in Colorado Springs.  The progress over the past three years includes well over 100 children being fed and discipled daily, a kitchen, loads of picnic tables, clean water, an agriculture based microenterprise, a set of fruit trees, a church plant and school through 4^th grade with 5^th grade being added in January.  It is a pleasure to see the incredible commitment and sense of urgency by our friends at Vanguard.  You guys walk the walk.

 

Our first stop this morning was Thembeni, which is sponsored by our friends at Capo Beach Calvary Church.  Again, an incredible picture of hope, commitment and progress.  In addition to also feeding and discipling over 100 children each day they have a pre-school and what has to be the most impressive playground in Swaziland.  I will add some photos as soon as I get a sufficient internet connection.  They have a large multipurpose building, a storage depot and two smaller multi-purpose buildings.  The children at both of these Carepoints have a springboard to a future with possibilities rather than despair.

 

It was critical that the team was able to see these progressive locations first as our next visit was to Ludlati.  Ludlati is a field in a remote area serviced by roads that run through dry creeks.  It was started approximately one year ago by a compassionate mother serving children from her home.  It quickly outgrew her capacity and she has secured a large field that I would estimate at approximately 30 acres from the local chief.  A large tree in the field is currently the only protection from the elements and marks the spot for a daily fire started in bush wood collected by the group of 4 women who assist her.  There were no children in the field when we arrived but as soon as smoke from the fire became evident they walked through the thick covering of trees and bushes.  In no time nearly 30 children arrived.  They shared that there are a number of children 3 and below that walk up to 2 miles each day to come to the feeding.  The most important element is in place, a Christ follower who wants to serve the children of her community and it is going to be another success story, I feel certain. 

 

In all, we will visit 5 new targeted Carepoint locations and I am confident that this vision team will not rest until we are able to develop the base of support needed to have each of them sponsored.  A number of these will be ‘Connect Communities’ which will provide YOU the opportunity to become a part of the solution.  Be back in touch soon.

 

God is Good!

October in Swaziland

Friends,

I depart for Swaziland today with a great team of Christ followers.  We will be coming alongside our friends at Adventures in Missions to work to expand our partnership with the children and communities in Swaziland that we work.

I will try to keep the blog with fresh udpates from the trip as it is possible.  In the interim I would appreciate your prayer:

-Pray for the safety and effectiveness of the team.

-Pray for the support and encouragement of Jumbo, Kreik and the team.

-Pray that working with AIM that we are able to plan for significant and effective expansion of the ministry over the next 12 months.

-Pray that we remain acutely focused on Him from whom all good things come.

-Pray for the good health of Julie and the kids.

See you from Swazi.

Bob

Can you believe this? Our deck at noon on September 21st

The story of Katie Davis - What has the Lord woven into the heart of your child?

Friends,

I need to do a much better job of keeping our blog updated.  Opining aside, I felt deeply compelled overnight to share something that God put on my heart after Julie and I spent the evening reading the blog of an incredible young lady.

Many who read this know that Julie and I have a calling to care for the orphan.  I spend the majority of every day at HopeChest trying to compel God's people to engage themselves into the life of 145 million of the most vulnerable.  I am blessed to be very close to the stories of redemption that come as a fruit of the hands and feet of the Church engaging with these children.  From the challenge of a Russian orphan that is being turned out to the world at 15 - alone- to the hundreds of leaders of child headed households in Swaziland that visit a HopeChest CarePoint for food and a hug because both parents died of HIV/AIDS.  My heart breaks and swells with joy many times each day.  

Last night through periods of tears and laughter, Julie read a good portion of the blog of Katie Davis.  I have the honor of talking with many people that have followed God's call to be a 'missionary' and committed their life to service in some of the most challenging circumstances one can imagine.  None have impacted me like Katie.  She was called at age 16 to leave Brentwood, TN and care for the orphan in the most dire circumstances in Uganda.  This young lady calls 13 orphans her children and touches nearly 400 kids everyday.  Simply incredible.  Simply read a few and I trust you will be in awe and wonder of her calling and commitment.  Katie Davis blog

While I hope that these stories compel you into the care of the orphan, that is not why I am writing.  As we were reading stories of her sacrifice and faithfulness weaved in with heart wrenching stories of malnutrition, abuse, starvation and death, I tripped across an entry by her father.  I felt as though I could relate since my Claire is 10 years old and persistently speaks of her desire to care for the orphan. But to sit here and realize that he provided faithful encouragement to a 16 year old, beautiful young lady to go to a dangerous, filthy and desperate world challenged me to the core.  This blog entry is a must read for all dad's - I implore you to soak in the circumstances and his response.  Blog from Katies dad

As you read this I want to share some questions that I was challenged with last night - through tears:

-Have I allowed the expectations of our culture cause me to dampen the dreams (calling?) of my children because they might be too risky?

-Am I spending enough time listening so as to be intentional about knowing and fostering the God given passions of my children?

There are two certainties that I glean from scripture.  First, risk and sacrifice are weaved throughout the stories of the great and faithful people of God (David, Daniel, Ruth, Paul, Peter, Timothy, Mary......). Second, we are ordained as parents to train them as we go in His way (Proverbs 22:6).  I pray that WE not allow the world to stain God's plan for our children!

Feed the Forgotten

Last month, Brandi McElheny led a Children's HopeChest vision trip to Uganda. At about the same time, our Uganda Director, Joseph, was attacked by an angry mob while trying to deliver food to famine-stricken areas. Now, Brandi and CHC are joining forces to do something about it.

Find out more below. Give if you are able. Pick up the badge (code below) to spread the word.

Here's the post from Brandi's blog:

FEED THE FORGOTTEN

Too often we hear heartbreaking stories like this (that I posted on Saturday) and do nothing. We feel helpless. . . and so we move on. Not this time. There are people DYING in Uganda right now. There are children who's bellies are hungry and aching. There are mamas who are too weak to stand and babies begging to be held. There are people trapping termites hoping for food and eating dung in helplessness. DO NOT CAVE TO DESPAIR. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.

Join us and Children's HopeChest to FEED THE FORGOTTEN!!! (CLICK HERE TO GIVE NOW) (note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section)

For $0.14, we can (and WILL) feed someone a meal of posho and beans. (posho is cornmeal, which is filling and beans are protein). Take that in for a moment. . .

$0.14 a meal

$2.86 for 20 days

$1 per FAMILY

$20 feed a family for 20 days.

How much was my Chick Fil A yesterday? How much is your Starbucks? The bigger question is how much am I willing to give up SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT EAT?

Remember Jesus story of the Good Samaritan? Remember how his very neighbors walked right by him? They probably looked at him with pity. . .probably thought "oh poor guy, that breaks my heart" but the fact is THEY DID NOTHING.

What will you do? These children are starving. . .

these actual children. . .

will you help? The money raised will feed those precious children. There are 3 - 4 villages that we are targeting (I'm hoping for more after we see how much we can raise!) to bring food relief to asap. These people are literally starving. . and waiting for you to act. Will you help? Even with paypal fees (2-3%) even $1 will feed 6 people! You CAN make a difference.

Spread the word, blog about it, facebook it, twitter it, ask your church or school or business to give, post the blog badge anything. Truly, we are begging you. . .on behalf of these children not to forget this post and move on to the next in your google reader list. Stop, pray, act.

GIVE TO FEED THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN!!!!!

(note: please write FEED THE FORGOTTEN in the notes section when you give)

To GET the blog badge, copy and paste this code into your post (remember to switch to the "edit html" mode in your post), or add as a "widget" on your blog. Spread the word!

<a href="http://www.brandisthoughts.com/2009/05/feed-forgotten.html" mce_href="http://www.brandisthoughts.com/2009/05/feed-forgotten.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://tomdavis.typepad.com/feedtheforgottenweb.jpg" width="160" title="Feed the Forgotten" /></a><br /><br />

Ministry Centers: A City on a Hill

Yesterday we traveled from Vladimir to Ivanovo to visit the Ministry Center (MC).  This has already been a challenging year for our ministry in Ivanovo.  We were informed in late February that government officials would no longer allow our programs to be run in the orphanages and that the sponsors of each of the children would be prohibited from the traditional visits and letter writing.  We are deeply disappointed by these turn of events.

The pain experienced by both our child sponsors as well as the kids in the orphanages cannot be overstated.  In one phone conversation that I had with a sponsoring mother from Virginia she related that she felt the same pain as when she lost her mother to an untimely accident.  A few churches expedited visits to their orphanage in advance of the May 1st deadline to bring supplies and to say their goodbyes.  It is indeed a deep wound.

The HopeChest MC in Ivanovo consists of 4 apartment flats located in a large complex just outside of the main city.  These flats were renovated and turned into a single complex.  The facility looks great and the staff was well prepared and excited to spend some time with us.  They run a number of programs through this center including fitness, counseling, cooking, computer training, discipleship and art.  

Soon after spending some time having tea with the staff the boys started to arrive.  There is an equal mix of kids who have come out of the orphanages as well as kids who were from boarding schools for special needs.  Today was a good day to be in the center because it was one of the three days per week that the activities director (suitably named ‘Coach’) leads weight lifting classes.  It was apparent that some of these boys had worked very hard as they were in great shape and took pride in showing me their exercise routine.  The facility is first class and Coach is deeply committed to see the boys succeed.

I sat down, talked and ate with the boys for nearly two hours.  My typical experience in working with orphans and vulnerable children is that it takes some time for them to warm up and engage.  Not the case with these young men.  They were quick to engage in conversation and emphatically impressed how important the center was to them.  Adjectives such as ‘love’ and ‘safe’ were frequently used.  Some travel up to 45 minutes, 3 times per week to spend a few hours in the programs.  I did not have to ‘read between the lines’ to determine how critical these programs are to their stability as they look for steady footing while transitioning into adulthood.

By the way, all of these kids are good a ping pong.  I thought I could hang with them but my record is 0-8 across two ministry centers.

What is critical for HopeChest and the kids is that we package the programs so that churches, which had traditionally sponsored orphanages, will now engage in the MC.  It is critical for these children and it is critical in order to keep the MC viable.  This trip was very valuable in terms of working with staff to develop programs that our churches can effectively engage in the care of the orphan.  I will be in contact with all Ivanovo sponsoring churches in the coming weeks.

By the way, if you are ever able to make it to the center, insist that Sergei fix you his Russian pancakes.  They were awesome.

As a side-note, the staff was asking what kind of programs would be effective in attracting girls in the Young Mothers Program to come to the center more frequently.  I am going to challenge all of my wife’s Creative Memories addicts to plan a scrapbooking retreat for young mother’s in Ivanovo! 

Independent Living: Beating the Odds

The future for the average child who graduates from a Russian orphanage is not bright. The statistics are so daunting that unless you sit back, cross you arms and consider their weight, it is almost unfathomable.

After leaving the orphanage at 16-17:

Nearly half the boys end up in criminal activity...many girls end up in prostitution.

About a 1/3 repeat the orphan cycle with their own children.

15% will commit suicide

All in all, we estimate 4-out-of-5 are facing a future of drugs, alcohol, poverty, crime, prostitution, and suicide.

Yesterday afternoon I visited 2 of the 4 independent living centers that Children’s HopeChest runs in Vladimir region. These flats and homes have between 4 and 6 kids who have recently graduated from an orphanage and are not taking the well beaten path but are rather choosing education, faith and healthy lifestyles. These kids are mentored, attending university and engaging themselves in the lives of others.

As I walked into the Girls Independent Living flat just around the corner from our Ministry Center I could see the sense of pride that the girls took in preparing for our visit. Everything was neat and tidy and they were quick to share how hard they were working to gain an education and live productive lives. They participate in a mentorship and life skills program. This flat, provided by Woodmen Valley Chapel, is the home base for a program that provides opportunity for redemption.

As you can see from the picture their faces tell the full story. Instead of being a statistic, you are looking at university trained speech therapists and engineers who have been given the skills and discipleship to face tomorrow with confidence.