Teams

Prayer theme of the post....

The teams who will be going over this spring and this summer! Pray as they prepare, raise support, and then travel over and minister and serve in their various capacities, and then their return (and debriefing process). Pray for the people they encounter in their preparation, travel and time in-country. Pray for their language and cultural learning. Pray.....as you feel led...

Here are the different people going and the timeframe they will be going. If you are among the teams, please feel free to share how you're preparing and what you are looking forward to, etc.

1. Roger & some nurses: April ; Medical outreach (and a lot of other stuff...)
2. Christie: She will be heading back to Jonathan House in May for 15(?) months!
3. Youth Team/Center Street Baptist Church: June

"Powerful Moments" (Memories)

Enjoy these memories that Pam has so kindly shared with us! Pam and her two children visited Jonathan House as part of the Grace Team in 2007. Thankyou Pam! Checkout pictures on the picasa page off the pictures from Grace Team.

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A few of my powerful moments while at JCC last year with my two children ..

They still bring tears to my eyes as i remember them...........

A few of the older girls were doing my hair (Hawa, Jeneba, and Gloria) not an easy task since my hair was quite short. (and not a real pretty picture when completed-comical spikes were the result of their hard word--but most definitely i felt the love :-)

anyways, I saw Roger Hatch playing with a couple kids out in the yard and said to the girls, "Daddy Hatch is such a good and godly man"(tears are flowing now) and one of the girls replied," He stopped our suffering' what stronger testimony could there be but that.

( i love you brother Roger)

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Another moment that i hold very dear and hope to continue to apply to my life is..

One day someone on the team made a comment (without thinking, as we all do) "Im starving' they said.

One of the older kids said to me, "It's a shame to say you are hungry in Africa"

That hit me like a ton of bricks. It's shameful to complain about being hungry in Africa. I thought of the children of Israel and though God was with them and leading them, they grumbled and complained. I thought,"It's shameful as a child of God to say i'm hungry" I thought how guilty i have been about that at times and what i'm saying when i complain is that God isn't doing a very good job taking care of me or I deserve more or better.

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One of the things that impressed me most about the kids (oops here come the tears again!) was when i discovered that all the kids were 'waiting' on doing their own laundry while we were there. There was quite a few of us and by the time we all did our laundry we would take up all the drying areas. The kids never complained at all but quietly sacrificed doing any of their laundry for a couple wks so that we could do ours. (maybe in reality they were instructed to wait or they were counting their blessing that they 'didn't have to' do their laundry? Regardless, I was impressed.

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The kids were hard workers, responsible. respectful, eager to please and very helpful with one another.

Before going to Africa I learned of some of the discipline common to their culture and I struggled in my heart because it seemed so harsh.

The Lord helped to prepare me, empty me before i went over to Africa. Who am I to say 'their way' isn't the 'right way' or the 'best way' or that we aren't the ones who could learn from THEM.

We Americans clearly dont have all the answers. I was told about a conversation between someone on our team and one of the locals who were discussing the difference in parenting. The local man said that we Americans tend to coddle or baby our children too much. I think that man had a very good point. The disrespect in our society is appauling, and we do too often, overall baby our children too much. I at least have tasted some of that truth in my own parenting. I think indeed, I learned more from them then i taught them.

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I MISS the children's singing praises and stories they had put to music. They sang from the wee morning hours off and on til they went to bed at night. They paitiently taught me some and I have been able to teach them to my daycare children here in the states. It warms my heart when these children sing those songs-and brings back sweet sweet memories of my rich experience with my brothers and sisters there.

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I went to Africa wanting to help, wanting to bless, wanting to make a difference. I came home far more blessed than when i had gone. My minute 'sacrifices' were insignificant in light of the depth of riches I received while being there.

Forever grateful,

Pam Newsome

Jonathan House Picasa Albums

Definitely check them out.....they're finally ready to be made public! Yay! There is still work to be done, but it's available for your eyes. :-) There are different albums--several albums with pictures from various teams that have gone over. One from some of the Sierra Leone trips before Jonathan House was created.

If you have anymore pictures you'd like to contribute from a trip of your own or events stateside related to Jonathan House, please send them to JHM.Salone@gmail.com and let me know what they are of and I will add them as I can.

If there are any of the pictures currently posted that are mis-labeled or have an incorrect caption, make a comment on it or send an email to that address above.

Picasa has a new feature in which it tags faces. I have tagged many of the kids, but not all. Ideally you will be able to search for a person and all of the pictures that person appears in you will be able to see. For example, let's say you sponsor Adama, you will be able to click on the "Adama" tag and see her smiling face! So when it's all done, it should be a nice feature.

The Latest Updates....

Hello!

Here are a few new "news" items:

• A family has decided to adopt Jerry Benya. They just started the whole process, so pray that it will go smoothly and for patience as they wait. By the way, this is Dylan's family who are adopting him. Before Dylan came back the family called over and were able to talk to Jerry too.
• Roger and many of the teams are back. Pray for good health for each of them and just the whole adjustment process back to life in the States.
• The next newsletter is going to be published soon. Karen is looking for anyone who would like to share a testimony of your experiences with Jonathan House. Email kjb5@mchsi.com if you would like to contribute. If you'd like to contribute to the blog, email JHM.Salone@gmail.com.
• Hopefully more videos and pictures will be added soon.
• Continue to pray for all of the kids as they finish school.
• Continue to pray for the school building project. If you'd like to "buy a brick", email Karen at the address above.
• Hopefully we will hear more about the recent trips on here.

Update: School Campaign, etc.

First of all....Sorry it has been a little quiet on here lately. Working on that. Here are some updates that have come out recently. God is doing great things in Sierra Leone through Jonathan House and that is so exciting!

Second of all...If you are interested in helping with this blog, let me know. (JHM.Salone@gmail.com) This could be in a variety of ways:

• Send in a story of your experiences with Jonathan House--getting to know the kids and staff at JH, getting to know some of the kids who've been adopted and live in the U.S., getting to know your sponsored kids, and so on.
• Look for articles about Sierra Leone and appropriate themes.
• Help in posting and recruiting people to send stories (see first bullet). :-) I would like to definitely start on a regular schedule of when to post.

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1. School Campaign (from Karen): Praise the Lord. To date God has provided $25676.33 for the school. This is amazing! We really need a minimum of $50,000 to get started and a total of $60,000 for the entire project. (This includes floating a second floor for future growth and/or housing, guestrooms, etc.). Please keep praying that God would touch just the right hearts to help provide support for this project. God is good and HIS timing is perfect! I am so excited for the day that we can call the orphanage and announce that God has blessed them with the funds for their school building! THANK YOU!
2. Roger, Outreach (from Karen): Please pray for Roger this week! He will be going to southern Sierra Leone to visit and begin ministering to a group of people who have had little exposure to the Gospel. We do know of one rudimentary church in the area, but it is largely a group who have little knowledge of our Lord. Pray that Roger would travel safely (there are really no direct routes to this area). Pray that he would make connections with just the right people. Pray that God would speak through him and show him the paths we should take in beginning to minister to these people. [He should be there about now...]
3. Teams: Pray for Kayla, Dylan, Rachel & Roger who still have some more time left in Sierra Leone. Several team members left earlier this week and should be back home now (or will be shortly). We will hopefully hear from them soon. Pray for Christie who is there for about 4 more months! Her dad and sisters have been in Sierra Leone spending time with her and working alongside her and just left with this last group.
4. Children's Day: Pray for the staff, as well as Christie and Dylan (that I know of) who will be traveling a Children's Day event soon.

Pray for Mary Ina (& some other requests)

April 3rd: Prayer & Praise (per Karen)

Pray for Mary Ina's and her family as they wait for a man with the US Embassy in Dakar to approve her visa so that she can finally come home!!! Mary Ina is in the bottom picture--how sweet is she?!

Pray for Rachel (in the top photo holding Solomon, Jan. '07) as she will have surgery to remove one of her kidneys on Sun. (April 6th). Pray for peace for her as she waits and for her twin sister Leah. Pray for the surgeon's skill and a sterile environment to prevent infection, a successful procedure and a quick recovery. Pray that she'll be able to make up any school work she might miss. She is in Grade 8 at the high school. She and Leah just turned 14 in March.

Pray for the people getting ready to go to Jonathan House:

* Christie--She'll be leaving in another week or so and will spend 6 months at JH serving as a house mother at the children's home. Pray for her health and good travel and quick adjustment to a new lifestyle at the home.

* Mark & Ashtyn--They'll be heading over end of April for a court date in the family's process to adopt one of the boys at the home--John Tarawallie. (What a great kid!)

* Roger, Kayla and several others who will make up two teams in May/June--some for 3 weeks and some for 5 weeks.

Pray for the staff as they deal with changes in the government and among staff. A new president and essentially a new government was put into office last fall which is a huge blessing. The election was peaceful which in itself is a huge praise! The new president is a Temne man and is a Christian! While it can be hard to keep up with some of the changes and requirements, hopefully these changes will create a better Sierra Leone in the future (hopefully sooner than later).

Praise God for a buyer for the old vehicle. A new vehicle was provided just a short time ago. (Praise!)

Pray for the fundraising campaign to build a new school on the grounds at Jonathan House. This is one of those new requirements of the new government. We are asking that people would donate $10 for a "brick" (or more!). And we are even going to encourage you to personalize that brick (or bricks) and they will form a collage at the home in the shape of the new building! More will be posted on this soon enough. Email JHM.Salone@gmail.com for any questions or how you can participate.

Praise God for the newest church plant in the village of Gbomboma! They just celebrated the finishing of their building with an official event. There were between 100 and 150 people in attendance at the Gbomboma church Easter Sunday. The church plant only started a year or so ago. Praise God for a successful outreach at the church in November with a medical clinic and handouts of food that were donated and sent over on the container. Pray for the pastor and leadership in the church that they will continue to trust God and be strong witnesses for others in Gbomboma and surrounding villages. The pastor--Randolph--also serves as the Class 4 teacher at the Jonathan House primary school. Another teacher and house father at Jonathan House is also the pastor at Torwama church--another JH church plant. Pray for these men and their families.