I'll be hooome for Christmas!

Hey people,

This is my last posting from the continent of Africa. I am leaving for the airport very earlier tomorrow morning. Sadly that is the only time I could get a ride I didn't have to pay a lot of money for but my flight doesn't leave Cape Town until after 10 pm so I will be sitting for a long time before I can even check in. I arrive in London on Monday morning and after another long flight I will then be in Boston:)

Amidst prayers for safe travels I would appreciate it if you could mention an early as possible check in and that the time will just fly by (no pun intended). Thank you guys for what a tremendous support you have been in this time of my life. I have definitely been impacted during this school and I am looking forward to getting home and sharing some of that with you. It is a time of very mixed feelings; I want to be with my family for Christmas but I'm sad to leave very good friends. I will be grateful for a chance to rest but I will really miss working with the people here. Anyway, speaking of rest I should go sleep while I still can. I love you all!

Isimbi Johanna

Crossing Oceans

Hey guys,

I hope you are all fully enjoying the holidays. Apparently NH is lacking snow at the moment which makes it harder to get into the spirit of things but I'm hopeful that by the time I get home there will at least be a few inches. (1)

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged sooner. I have been strangely moody this past week and don't really know how to explain myself. Not that surprising considering that I am at the end of outreach about to return home. I am so excited to be back for Christmas and see my family but at the same time am reluctant to go. My heart feels fully alive in places like Zimbabwe while I am helping people and I already miss it. I can't really describe the feeling of returning after you have been away for a while in a different culture; you kind of have to experience it yourself and then you get it. For me it feels like I have one foot still in Africa and the other in America and I am just stretched out between them. The good thing when trying to live in two worlds at once is that I get to experience twice as much of God during the stretching time.

Alright, I will give you guys a more complete update later. I was just online waiting to Skype with my family but they apparently forgot about me (2) so the computer I'm borrowing needs to be returned. I have my final exam tomorrow morning if you think to pray for that and then our school is going to have some rest days before our graduation on Wednesday. One week from right now I will be boarding my flight in Cape Town to return home. See you soon! Love you guys and Merry Christmas!

Isimbi Johanna

(1) NH received about 3 or 4 inches of snow the evening after we spoke with Johanna!
(2) We didn't get home from church in time...

Zimbabwe is a life-altering, God glorifying, fantastic country!

Hello everyone!

I just got back to South Africa on Thursday after a 26-hour train ride and am just letting you all know that I made it OK. As soon as we arrived back at the base the two other American girls and I went out for a Thanksgiving lunch although mostly we were going for the coffee that we missed so much (if my Grandma and my Dad read this I blame my coffee addiction on your side of the family). This morning I left the base and got on a train again to come to Cape Town and hang out with the girls in my school. Starting this Monday we have some more health teachings to do at a school here in SA for a week. I am praying that God will give me the energy for this last bit of outreach...

Thank you to everyone for my birthday wishes. It was wonderful! To celebrate my 23rd year I got to give massages to about 50 old Zimbabwean women who have been working incredibly hard their whole life and now have back and joint pains. I loved it!

I will be graduating on the 10th and will leave to return to NH on the 13th. See you all later!

Isimbi Johanna

Happy Birthday, Johanna!

Since the clock has passed midnight on the African continent we will pause to wish Johanna a wonderful day of reflection and blessing.  Johanna was a Sunday child (5:00 AM on the dot!) so even though the date is one day early, we will recall the blessing of her arrival in triumph and accomplishment (her older brother was born via C-section but Johanna was 'all natural' in her arrival!).  In the end the doctor essentially missed all but the final details since even then Johanna traveled on a schedule that she and her Creator arranged together.

Her mid-wife (a faithful Catholic) expressed that it was such a spiritually transcendent experience that all she felt the need to do was to go to church on her way home.  God was indeed gracious to grant us (and the world) this good gift of life.  Happy birthday, dear daughter child!

Last Zimbabwe Update

Hi,

I am almost out of internet time but I wanted to let you all know quickly that Nqobi is doing better. He came to stay with us for a few days and it was very good for him. He ate like a king and fell asleep in my arms 3 nights in a row. When his father came to get him and walk him back to the people he stays with he cried. Please keep him and his father in your prayers.

I am just outside Bulawayo for the rest of the weekend and then we are driving to Nkayi where we will do ministry and get some teaching on mother-child health from the hospital there. After 2 weeks we will go and stay in the village to provide some healthcare for them. I am excited for that. You can see the stars with awesome clarity when you are in the bush with no electricity. I will be back in South Africa in a month and then heading home for Christmas. See you then!

Isimbi Johanna

Nqobisitha

The first time I saw him he was sitting next to his father under a tree on a hot sunny afternoon. I was tired. I had just walked 2 miles to get back to where we are staying but some things make you forget exhaustion. I had never seen trachoma in person before but Nqobi is already at stage 4 so even with my little training I could recognize it as soon as I knelt down in front of him. Have you ever seen an 8 year old who has given up on life? This kid has. He would barely lift his shoulders to look at me even though I was right in front of him; partly because the light hurts his eyes so much. They were swollen and crusty with discharge. He can barely see at this point because of the gray film over his pupil. Needless to say Nqobi impacted me.

On top of his eyes he is so malnourished that he is the size of his 4 year old cousin. His mother died when he was 2 and although his father loves him he can't take care of him because he has to work. Nqobi stays with some cousins who are struggling to provide for themselves. Over the next few days after I first met him our team visited his home to begin treatment on his eyes. It was a dramatic improvement just by washing them.

On Monday Nqobi is coming to stay at the base we are living at. They have a home for orphans there and they will temporarily take care of him while we continuing treating his eyes. We can clean them up but we can't cure his blindness. We do, however, serve a God who can and therefore we are expecting and asking for a complete recovery. The most important treatment we can give people as a medical team is prayer.

I wanted to share Nqobisitha with you because he is the reason I did this school. I could tell you all about the primary school we do health teachings/health care at or the home visits we make to the community members. I could tell you about how we got permission from the chief of the community to do a community-wide teaching on HIV/AIDS last Saturday. For me, though, it comes down to people like Nqobi. People who need help from someone to show them that life is not hopeless, that there is a God who loves them and created them, and that they do not have to die from something we can prevent.

I have been in Zimbabwe for just a short time but it will certainly affect the rest of my life. In a week I am going from the bush to the bush-bush or in other words we are traveling farther into Zimbabwe to work in a village. Obviously, I will have no internet connection so I will talk to you in December. Thanks for your prayers and support! I love you guys!

Isimbi Johanna

Prayer for Political 'Stability'

Continue to pray for the political landscape of the country of Zimbabwe which has had such a convoluted history in recent months, years and decades. The unity government of the past year appears to be dissolving and that could in turn lead to political violence and further turmoil and hardships for the population of the country. See the following Reuters story for further detail.

Experiencing Africa

Since Johanna will be mostly 'out of touch' with the global electronic network that we are so used to experiencing here in the developed western world, we have decided to provide occasional excerpted 'readings' from several great resources about Africa until she returns.

To begin I would like to recommend a treasure of a book (unfortunately now out of print) by John Charles Kerr called Hidden Riches Among the Poor: Reflections on the Vibrant Faith of Africa. Mr Kerr has served for a number of years in Kitwe, Zambia (one of the countries next door to Zimbabwe). The following quotation is one of the best written synopsis of the region that I have seen. *

...you notice a kind of softening of attitudes in Africa. For starters, there is an easing up on all rules and regimentation. Pockets of efficiency probably exist on the continent but, on the whole, Africa is under a soft haze sprinkled with laughter and the notion seems foreign. There are no distinct lines of demarcation here, no precision. There is more of a blending, an almost infinite tolerance of the vagaries and digressions of life. Watercolor seems the perfect medium, with sightly blurred edges, wide margins, wide margins. Africa is a very human place.

In Africa there is no "point A to point B" transit. Rather there is something like "point A to point Z," with so many interesting happenings along the way that you may never reach your destination. The process of getting there is just as important as actually arriving.

This was pretty hard on us, the esteemed visitors from the industrialized and well-managed west. Either we change and enjoy the ride or we go away muttering invective. We need to change not just how we make progress but the kind of people we are. Africa is so resistant and tough that it forces a softening on you. Here the idea is not so much to impose the imprint of our know-how and programs upon a setting and 'have an impact." Rather Africa seems to say, "Let me impact you!" Africa forces you to become malleable. It allows you to be acted upon rather than just acting.

This makes Africa a wonderful setting for change. Of course, it does not impose change against one's will. But it offers to those who enter its life something like a liberation. Africa makes you feel like you have cast off a hard shell and entered a new kind of freedom. The margins of life have widened. The hard lines we have imposed upon ourselves gave way a little.

Slowly but surely, one's thinking undergoes the same transformation. It seems to me now that Africa has accomplished in two years, in its soft yielding soil, what several years of Western resolve could not manage: meaningful change. The indirect approach of Africa, which seldom like to address any issue head-on, may have produced what the concentrated approach of the North American mindset was utterly incapable of. it is as though your life has been exposed to the diffused light of dawn rather than the intense glare of the searchlight. Africa, obdurate and resistant -- as thousands of missionaries and visionaries who lie beneath its soil would testify -- Africa, the most unchanging of continents, has a residual power to change us. I think of Africa along the lines of the 'cornerstone' (1 Peter 2:6) of Scripture, which has the power to grind you to pieces if it falls on you and to break you if you fall on it. It seems ironic: the continent which seems to have the least to teach the western mind turns out, for me at least, to be the agent of change. I find Pierre Pradervand's Listening to Africa to be aptly titled. Africa has much to teach us, about achieving consensus, about giving, about patience, about relating to the elderly and vitality under duress -- if we can listen.

Africa can teach us about time... time that is not tied to the pursuit of objects and money; but to an openness and spontaneity -- the time of just being and having relationships, rather than doing or achieving. Above all, it is the time of the present moment, of living in the now, rather than in a constant projection into the future... Africa has a unique and profound sense of kairos (the master moment of golden opportunity). If it is true that the continent needs to master chronos (the tick-tock that keeps us rushing from one appointment to another), without being mastered by it, we need African kairos more.

And Africa does more than teach in a didactic sense. As you enter into its life, she imposes change on you the way strong African fingers break off a piece of cornmeal sahdza and work it into an edible lump, ready to be dipped into hot sauce. In this same sense it functions like the best of teachers. One can only hope that it will retain its cornerstone strength for the good of the human race, right to the end.

* Quoted with the permission of the author...

Lee Beachy

Safe Arrival in Zimbabwe...

Johanna called home for a just a couple of minutes in the early morning hours on 10/12/09 to let us know that she had arrived safely, was doing well, and to wish her brother a happy birthday! Thanks for your prayers and support!

The NH Beachys

Images: Joy & Contentment...

Zimbabwe!!

Hello all,

So this will be my last post before I go to Zimbabwe which means I don't know when you will hear from me again. Hopefully, I can find a computer to use to let everyone know I'm still alive sometime this week.

We are leaving tonight at 7 and will reach Johannesburg around noon tomorrow. We stay there overnight and then continue on to Zim; we should arrive in Bulawayo sometime on Thursday.

Concerning prayer, just keep it coming! The base prayed for our team this morning to send us off and you can never pray too much. Zimbabwe needs prayer for sure but I believe God has great things in store for turning this country back to Him and I am excited to see a glimpse of it in the coming months. We are praying for safe travels of course and then some things to keep in mind are unity amongst our team, wisdom in our words and actions, and most importantly that God would use us to glorify Him in Zimbabwe. We may be going there as a health care team but really God can use us however He wants.

As for me, I am so excited to be going. I love seeing new countries! Time goes by so fast and I want to make the most of the 2 months I have in Zim. Before I know it I'll be going back home for Christmas. I look forward to seeing you all in December and I will write to you from Zimbabwe. Bye!

Isimbi Johanna

I love my life

Hi dear people,

I am borrowing my lovely Lissia's computer but she is from France so her keyboard is a little strange for me; if there are any typos it's because of that. The plus side is that I get to listen to fantastic French music as I write this. Someday I will be fluent in French.

Seriously, anyone who thinks that being a Christian means you are always going to lead a boring life full of rules is missing out on so much. I can barely begin to list the amazing things I get to do just because of where following Christ leads me. I'm going to Zimbabwe in 6 days because of Him. I wanted to remind you all of one of the ways that our God blesses us; by giving us adventures. He's so cool!

I and my classmates had a wonderful time in Knysna as I said. We had some interesting days together learning more about our personalities and differences but it was good. We are spending this week cramming in some last lectures before we leave. Our teaching is on the nervous and endocrine systems which I didn't realize I would like so much. They are such delicate and incredibly important systems that are created so beautifully how could you study them and not glorify our Creator God. Really amazing. On Monday we are on our way. We take a bus from here in Worcester to Johannesburg which will be about 16 hours. We'll stay in Joburg overnight and then take a combi to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Please be praying for safe travels and that we can get across the border as soon as possible. The police can take a rather long time checking everyone's bags and then visas take time as well. Still I've driven across borders in Africa before and it is really fun. It's a great way to see the nitty-gritty of a country. I have been learning whatever I can about Zim before we go and God has blessed me with some great opportunities to talk with people about it. I'm so excited to go!

I will talk to you again before we leave. Thanks for your prayer!

Isimbi Johanna

The blessing of getting old

Hi all,

Someday I hope that I get to grow old. The past week and half has been a wonderful experience. The home our team has been working at is amazing and the ladies who started it are an inspiration to anyone about how to persevere. We have been doing all sorts of things from working in the kitchen or ironing laundry to assisting with bathing the residents and giving them meals. I am reminded of what a privilege it is to stay alive long enough to grow old. Some of the people we work with have seen a lot here in South Africa over the years. Unfortunately for us, many of the residents only speak Afrikaans or if they do speak English they are not exactly completely in touch with reality but it definitely makes for some interesting conversations.

The time here has gone by so fast and I can't begin to tell you everything that has happened. I don't have long on the internet so I will update you in more detail next week when we return to Worcester for one last week of lectures. The most exciting thing I have to tell you is that two weeks from now I will be in Zimbabwe! I will talk to you later

Isimbi Johanna

Life for Zimbabwe's children...

A BBC team has been to Zimbabwe, four months since a power-sharing government took over, to meet the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Harare, Robert Ndlovu. To hear his narration of a 2:30 minute audio slide show and see what life is like for the Zimbabwe's children click here [click 'Show captions' for better viewing].

L. Beachy

Time to go try it out...

Hi all,

I wanted to let you guys know that I am leaving tomorrow to go on the first part of my outreach. Our class is going to Knysna, South Africa to work in a long-term care home for elderly and paraplegic people. It is around four hours from Worcester and we will be there until Sept. 21st. When we return we have one last week of classes and then on the 28th we leave for Zimbabwe.

Speaking of Zim, I was very blessed this morning to get to visit with my friend Rob from Zimbabwe. I met Rob about two years ago in Manchester, NH way before I ever had plans to go to Zimbabwe. He has since moved back to Zim and was here in SA visiting friends so we met in Cape Town to catch up. I think it is just so cool how God knows our lives before we live them. I had no idea but He knew that I would be in Zim someday. I really am so excited to see this country; from what I hear God is turning things around from what they were like even just last year.

I will write you as soon as I can and definitely before I go to Zimbabwe:)

Isimbi Johanna

A certified South Africa First-Aider!

Hello all of you,

I wanted to give you a bit of an update about what is going on in my life here but please I also love knowing what is happening in your lives so any time you want to write me or leave me notes on Facebook or something please do.

This past week our school was learning First Aid. Really cool subject even though it was mostly review for me. I did an EMT-Basic course two years ago and learned all about keeping people alive. My certification just ran out in May though so this was great timing. It is surprising how much you forget when you aren't using it. I passed my CPR exam this morning so I am now officially a First-Aider in South Africa anyway. I really loved the whole week because our teacher was a great man; very experienced but very humble and he is a fully alive Christian. I've never had medical teaching that goes hand in hand with Biblical truth before and it definitely makes a difference. Every morning our class has either worship or intercession together and our teacher this week joined us for that before teaching.

Next week, we are focusing on outreach into the local community. We are finding out tomorrow morning what exactly we are doing but one thing I know is that this Wednesday afternoon we are presenting a health teaching to a group of kids in a really poor community near us. We decided to teach on personal hygiene and it should be a lot of fun. Also this Friday night there is a youth concert that is being run by a worship leader for the young people of Worcester. I am very excited for this because these youth face so many battles and I mean intense ones. They are living a country with the worst crime rates, high HIV/AIDS infection, and wrong mindsets left from apartheid. If you happen to think about it please pray for this Friday evening (it would be earlier in the day in America). Pray that the youth will have the courage to respond and that they will hear the Truth when they come and recognise it. I plan to attend it mainly to be there and pray for them as it is happening. I am excited to see what God has in store for the young people of South Africa.

Alright, I have a book report due in a week (on a book I haven't read yet:) and a teaching plan due Monday so I am going to work on that. See you later!

Isimbi Johanna

I'm alive!

Hi you guys,

Don't worry I haven't perished of a strange tropical disease. I have a lingering cough but other than that I am doing very well. Thank you all so much for your prayers. Here at the base I got prayed for in English, Afrikans, Portuguese, and French so I was pretty well covered. The flu bug thing is going around here and lots of people are getting sick.

I just found out today that I thought I had payed all my school fees but actually I have to pay another 12,000 rand for outreach. Bit of a downer of course but it is actually rather awesome the way God has already begun to provide that for me. I have had people offer to support me earlier this week before I knew that I would be needing this and I found out that I have a 401K check coming from one of my jobs in Montana. I think it is so cool that God knew I was going to be needing to pay this and started to prepare for it before I knew.

Here's how the rest of this school is going. We have 3 more weeks of teaching and then we are going to another part of South Africa where we will be working at a long term care home for paraplegics, quadraplegics, and elderly. Our job will be mainly helping with washing in the mornings and getting them breakfast. We are there until the end of September then we come back here to Worcester for some last minute teaching then off to Zimbabwe. We will be in Zimbabwe from October to December mostly in Komayanga village. After graduation I fly home for Christmas.

I have kind of flopped when it came to fund-raising for this school which I apologize for. Many of you have expressed a desire to support me financially and I am sorry I didn't organize this better for you. I was planning to put off fund-raising until I came back next year when I could do a really good job and send out stuff to make it easier for people. I will still do that but if you are sensing God leading you to not wait until then you can send a check to my home address which I will provide [See blog heading] or give it to my lovely parents if you are in NH. May I just tell you that I already appreciate your prayers because they are the greatest most powerful support you can give me.

Thank you all tremendously! Ndagukunda cyane. I am heading to Cape Town with friends (someone is letting us crash at their house for the weekend) so I will talk to you later.

Isimbi Johanna

Fever, fever, fever

Hi all,

So I am just letting you know that I could use some extra prayers for health at the moment. I came down with some sort of flu bug over the weekend that has knocked me flat. I've been coughing my lungs out just about and I keep swinging back and forth with a high fever which is unusual for me. I spent the day in bed on Sunday since my fever was 39.4 C [102.9 F*] and I thought that would be the end of it but the next morning it was back. I took medicine and was doing better most of the day but then the fever was back up over 39 [102.2 F*] by last night. Besides just feeling awful and not being able to hear or smell because I am so stuffed up I am really ready to be done with this fever. People here have been great with praying for me and giving me time to rest but I figured the more prayers the better. Hopefully, I can stay fever free tonight, get some rest, and be fully restored in the morning.

Isimbi Johanna

P.S. It has been funny in class the past two days because we are talking about the eyes, ears, and nose. I felt like a walking demonstration of all the infections you could get.

How far from home am I?

Taken in Cape Town, South Africa

NH Friends in Rwanda...

Many of Johanna's friends from Manchester Christian Church have begun their own journey of learning and service today [8/9/09] as they head to Rwanda on one of five teams that the church is sending! 36 people in all will focus on a wide range of specific outreach in conjunction with the churches of Rwanda. You can read more (and follow team updates at the following blog called Manchester on the Move).

What will I do?

Hello people,

You know how when people learn about the Holocaust they tend to say things like "If I were in Germany at the time I hope I would have done something or said something." They also tend to say things like "I guess I'll never know since it's over and all..." Well, I have decided that I will not wonder that about myself. When I was in Rwanda I would often think about what I would have done if I had been there during the genocide in 1994. I was thinking about that again tonight.

I just watched this movie called Yesterday about a woman from a village in South Africa who has HIV and her husband is dying of AIDS. It's a good movie and I would recommend it but it let something loose in me tonight. After it was done I walked out to the field here and sat down in a far corner.It is dark here right now so I was quite alone. I just started sobbing and crying; something I am not prone to do. I was brokenhearted over this issue of HIV/AIDS. It felt like I was grieving for everyone I know who has it and all those millions of unknowns. Maybe like the tiniest reflection of the way God feels about it. This is what God was showing me. I may not have been in Rwanda during the genocide but I am here in South Africa right now during the deaths of millions due to HIV/AIDS. I have been to multiple countries in Africa by now and met many people infected with HIV. So what will I do about that?

I don't have all the long-term answers to that right now but I guess I just wanted to share with you the things God uses to shape my heart. James 1:27 says "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble..." Please think about this because if you have not been taking care of orphans and widows you should be afraid. Seriously, look it up anywhere in the Bible; God is fiercely protective of them and He really warns about not looking after them. According to this verse in James looking after them doesn't mean sending them some money, or getting together at your church to talk about how you can help the world's poor, or even praying for them. These things are all great but it says GO to them and visit them in their trouble. There are widows and orphans (which the Bible defines as children who are fatherless) on the other side of the world or 5 minutes down the street from you no matter where you live and no matter what your income level you are able to visit them.

Anyway, I am off to Cape Town tomorrow on a class trip so I'll be going now. I love you all but I love God more:)

Isimbi Johanna

Introduction to Primary Health Care

Hi everyone,

How are you all? For those of you from MCC who are about to leave for Rwanda I am soooo excited for you and I will be praying that you have a life-changing time there. It is a beautiful country with fantastic people. Imana iguhe umugisha!

So I wanted to explain a little bit more about my school for you. I didn't have a lot of details for you before I left and a lot of you were asking me why I didn't just go to nursing school in the U.S. My school is a second- level school with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) called Introduction to Primary Health Care. As far as medical schools go it is very basic but what makes it unique is the emphasis on health care in developing nations where sometimes you are all people have. There a eight main areas we focus on:

-Food and nutrition
-Water and sanitation
-Disease control
-Mother and child health
-Curative care
-Essential drugs
-Health Education
-Community resources

We have one teacher each week who comes in and focuses on some aspect of those eight issues. Some of the teachers in the school are medical professionals while others are lay health workers with a lot of hands on experience. My school leaders are all from different parts of Africa and they have a great deal of wisdom to impart to us. We have a small class with 3 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Nigerian, 1 Ghanaian, 1 from France, and 1 from New Zealand. We have been in classes now for a month and we have two months left before we go to really start learning by experience. In September we are going to a different part of South Africa where we will be assisting in a long-term care home for two weeks. After that we are off to Zimbabwe. We are going to a village in Zimbabwe called Komayanga. We will be working some of the time with a clinic in the area and some of the time we will set up a temporary clinic under a tree somewhere so people can come to us for help.

I am really enjoying this school but it is most definitely challenging as well. Not only is the school itself quite time consuming but the topics are really heavy. This past week we were learning about HIV/AIDS. Let me tell you, learning about it while you are in South Africa is sobering. 26% of the population in SA is HIV positive. Most of southern Africa is over 20% and in some places over 30%. As a health care worker here you face HIV/AIDS as a daily reality. The other thing is just the simple responsibility that comes with this school. I am scared at the mere thought of a desperate mother bringing her severely malnourished child to me and expecting me to save them. But I will most likely face that and more in Zimbabwe.

Obviously I can use prayer for this! We also have no idea what we will have as far as medicine when we get there because the current situation in Zimbabwe does not guarantee much of anything. Fortunately I serve a God who provides. Well, that is a little about my school...Talk to you in a few days. Bye!

Isimbi Johanna

A Thousand Words!

Football and Smiles

Hi all,

I have some free time at the moment so I thought I would try to give you more of an update. Actually, I should be doing my teaching plan right now but I need a break from working.

South Africa is fascinating but way too cold for me right now. It is winter here and usually around 55 degrees or warmer when the sun is out. I know it's not that cold but I much prefer weather in the 80s or 90s. It is interesting to be in a country that is in the process of having everything, including mindsets, restructured. Apartheid just ended 15 years ago which is really not very long. Although it is no longer legal, the daily reality for people still reflects a strong division of races. South Africa is separated into white, coloured, and black when it comes to people. During apartheid your quality of life was very much determined by your race with the whites having the best and the others getting the leftovers. The coloured are basically people who have a mixture of white and black blood plus some Indian blood. They were treated better than blacks but not as good as whites. From what I have seen there has been a lot of progress but it will be a ways to go before these attitudes are restored back to the truth.

There is something God has shown me about myself in the few weeks I have been here that is really cool. I was thinking that people here on the base were really friendly because they were always smiling. But then a few different people made comments to me about how I was always smiling and one guy told me that my face was full of laughter.To add to it the first teacher we had was a wonderfully smart woman named Minette. She would say these things in class about Africa that resonated with me and apparently every time she did I would smile because she started stopping and saying "there's that smile again." One time she said "Oh Johanna, you have such a beautifully expressive face." Finally one afternoon it hit me and I realized that all those smiling people were smiling back at me because I was smiling. My face was expressing joy. I don't know if I can explain to you all how profound it was for me to realize this. Not all of you have known me very well for the past ten years but I had depression for a while when I was younger and I never smiled. I mean seriously my face had almost no expression for such a long time because I didn't have any joy. So for me to see this difference in myself I am essentially seeing a part of me that God has restored back to what he originally intended me to be. He's the reason I smile so much now and I love that other people can see it.

I could use some prayer for this weekend. I have my first test tomorrow and it might be up to 3 hours long. It's practical and theory. Another thing you might want to pray for is this Sunday. The girls in my school and I have arranged a football (soccer for the Americans) match Sunday afternoon between our school and the girls in the English Language School here on base. It'll be fun but unfortunately for us most of the girls in ELS are from Brazil. So basically we are setting ourselves up for a football match against Brazilians which I think means we are either really courageous or just plain dumb. Hopefully I survive to write to you all again!

Isimbi Johanna

A Quick Update

Hi all of you,

Sorry I haven't been writing in a while. I had a bunch of stuff due today so I have been busy. They really waste no time in this school. We have another lecture tonight after supper to fit in everything we need to this week.

I have at least settled in more here so I feel a little more at home although I really wish it wasn't so cold here. We started work duties today, which we have to do on top of all our schoolwork :), and the days are going to go by very quickly now. Last week we were talking a lot about mother/child health and nutrition. Our teacher was great and I am so glad that I came to do this school. I know that God will be teaching me a lot this year. This week we are talking about counseling and how to get people to talk to us. Oh, and I have started going to a nearby gym. Really fun and really hard work since I'm not used to it. I enjoy weight-lifting the most. I go with two of the girls from my school and a guy on staff here at the base who used to work in a gym back in Colorado. Us girls are barely able to move at the moment.

Please pray if you think about it for the three students we are still waiting for. One is a guy from Liberia and then two women from Nigeria. They are all having trouble getting visas but we are really praying that they will make it in time.

OK, I have dinner soon and then lectures so I should go. Talk to you later!

Isimbi Johanna

What Can I Say

Hi all,

So I don't really know what to say when a South African doctor tells you that the Christian church has failed when it comes to HIV/AIDS; or when he points out that all the Christian countries in Africa are the ones with the highest infection rates. It prompts some serious thinking.

Our school has started of right away because we have a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time. We had our first lectures on Saturday but were able to have this afternoon off. A lot of our schedule will depend on when the doctors are available to come and talk. We also have a lot of schoolwork to do which I need to be working on right now. More of the students have come although we are still waiting on some. A lot of the people here on base are from Ghana so I have enjoyed the chance to talk about Ghana with them. I might get a chance to relearn some Twi that I forgot. Overall this place is very western compared to the Africa I am used to. While I enjoy the hot showers and the faucet water you can wash your toothbrush in without getting sick I will be glad to be back in more traditional Africa. I am very excited to go Zimbabwe!

I should go do schoolwork so I will talk to you all later!

Isimbi Johanna

Mailing Johanna!

For those who wish to send Johanna correspondence please use the address below (extra postage is required). Yes, those notes and cards ARE appreciated!!

Johanna Beachy (IPHC Student)
YWAM Worcester
P.O. Box 926
Worcester 6849
South Africa

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The First Few Days

Ok hello everyone,

Yes so I am here on Worcester alright although I think I will forever dislike the Johannesburg ('Jo-burg') airport. The way it is set up you have to go get your checked bags when you get off your plane and you go to the exit and then check back in again for your connecting flight. I got to the check-in counter finally at almost midnight and they were closing up and told me I couldn't check in until the morning. The guy there was telling me that I would have to stay at a hotel so he showed me where to go because the airport one was full. At first I thought he meant that I would have to find a hotel in Joburg somewhere which is not that safe. But he just pointed to the Intercontinental Hotel that was across the road and told me to go there. So I left the airport in Joburg in the middle of the night and went across the street (don't freak out Mother or Laura obviously I am fine) to the hotel but as I was walking up to it I noticed that it looked really nice which was not good for me. Yeah, they wanted over 3,000 Rand for the night which is over $400. At that point I only needed the room for 4 hours anyway. I just said no thank you and walked back across to the airport. I went back to the check-in counter at sat down on some stairs across from it. I was the only person around other than the cleaning guys. One of them had seen me leaving and he came back over to me and asked if I found what I was looking for and I told him I couldn't afford it. I sat there for a few minutes and then he came back and told me that there was a 24-hour coffee shop downstairs where I could go. He showed me the right lifts to use and what floor to push and as I was getting on he said "Because you looked very nice sitting there you know and the others they would harass you" and then he walked away. I did find the coffee shop which is where the other passengers were waiting. I was just reminded of how much God protects me when I am traveling by sending me people like that young kind cleaning guy to help me. Then when I got to Cape Town the guy who was suppose to come pick me up didn't come; these two other guys came but they were 30 minutes late. I tried to subtly ask them questions before I would go with them and they passed so I went:)

When I got here to Worcester yesterday I was really struggling with being homesick for Rwanda and my family. I haven't spent very much time with my family in the past 2 years and the month I just had with them was not nearly enough. I also really didn't want to leave Rwanda because it feels natural and good when I'm there. I miss my friends in Kigali of course but it is more than that. I don't know if God will use in Rwanda long-term but I am sure that I will continually visit at least.

One of the staff for my school here is a young woman from Ghana and I was talking with her when we found out that she was at the YWAM base in Tema, Ghana at the same time that I visited it with Mercy Ships in 2006. She remembers our team coming. We live in a small world. My room here is very tiny and cold but there is hot running water for showers. So far the other students I know are Bernard from Ghana, Ginny from Texas, and Lissia from France. The last two are my roommates. There are some others coming in the next few days. I saved the best part for last...we are going to Zimbabwe for outreach!!! I have been praying that we would and today Lissia told me she has been praying that as well! Please keep praying that it doesn't fall through because I believe that is where we need to go.

We have registration at 4 so I will talk with you later. Bye!

Isimbi Johanna

Thank God!

I am here in Worcester safe and sound finally. After all the traveling I have done in Africa this past time might be the worst of all. I really need to go lie down and sleep because I haven't since yesterday morning so I will tell you about it later. Thank you for all your prayers!!

Isimbi Johanna

On my way to South Africa

Hi people,

I am leaving for SA in a couple of hours. I would love to ask for your prayers as I travel to a new country. I have to sit in the Johannesburg airport overnight so I need to stay awake and alert...it is not exactly the safest place. Please pray that all my bags arrive, that I don't get bothered by anyone (though Robert, like a typical big brother, has been giving me advice on where to hit a guy if he attacks me) and that someone is there to pick me up when I arrive in Cape Town. I am very excited to be going to SA but very sad to leave Laura and Rwanda. I will let you know that I have arrived as soon as I am able!

Isimbi Johanna

Lately in Rwanda

Hello all you people,

So I have been cramming in lots in my short time here in Rwanda which explains why I haven't written. OK an update...

On Saturday we had a mini reunion with some of the students from my DTS . It was a lot of fun to hang out with them. About five of us met at Jean Paul's new house which was perfect because then we got to meet his new wife. He just got married on June 6th and they are adorable. It really cracks me up at these type of get togethers because people here really like formality. There were a bunch of people we didn't know who would get up and give speeches in Kinyarwanda and then while we were eating one of the guys there whipped out a huge old camera and started taking snapshots of everyone. It was fantastic!

Monday was not as much fun although just as important. Robert took Laura and I to see the memorial in Nyamata. There is a catholic church in Nyamata where a hundreds of people were killed during the genocide and as a memorial to them the government has left the church almost untouched. When you walk inside all you see are piles of ragged clothing laying on all the pews. The bones have been moved to an area behind the church where they are respectfully displayed. There are so many skulls. The ceiling of the church is still riddled with bullet holes and the white cloth draped across the altar table is covered in 15 year old bloodstains. It is disturbing to see. What struck me the most though is that as we walked out of the burial chambers where we had been surrounded by skulls and femur bones, many of them children, there were these three little girls waving at us and laughing from the other side of the fence. You see, the church in Nyamata is smack dab in the middle of all the other buildings. People walk by it every day going about their business. It was just an intense reminder of what you can't always see in Rwanda as an outsider; the people here carry out their lives with constant reminders of what happened right next to them. You just can't go anywhere that something didn't happen there that has bad memories.

Other than that I have been visiting friends and helping Laura with her classes. I will be leaving this time next week to fly to South Africa and start my school. This weekend, however, Laura and I are going to Butare to visit the National Museum and spend some time by the pool. It will be a good break for her. Hopefully this Sunday I will get to visit Selassie's mom which I am looking forward to. Talk to you all later!

Isimbi Johanna

A holy God who answers prayers

Muraho!

I am sitting here at Ninzi Hill in Kigali, one of my favorite places to go and hang out with friends, talking with Laura about the challenges of having your first official teaching job be on another continent. I got to visit her classes yesterday and it is clear that God gifted her to teach but all the same God can gift us to do something without making it easy to do.

The two things that I have been learning a lot on the past week would seem to contradict each other when you think about. But then I guess that is part of what makes God awesome; that He can be both. Some of my friends are in a book group together and I am going to join in while I am here. So I decided to read the book they are studying right now. It is called 'The Holiness of God' by R.C. Sproul. I would warn you to read it and be prepared to get scared and uncomfortable. As the book talks about God is absolutely holy; that is to say He is utterly pure and wholly set apart from us. So much so that we can not ever fully know Him or look upon Him as a result of our sin. Any relationship between us and God must be initiated by Him. It just seems incredible to me that He does initiate with us.

Which bring me to my next topic. This holy God who could very understandably choose to have nothing to do with us actually invites us into direct communication with Him and then He even answers us. He has answered my prayers far beyond what I deserve. On Sunday I got to visit with Selassie! He met me after church and we came here to Ninzi and talked for hours. When we left he said he would accompany me back to the base but that he didn't want to go in. Last year when he left the school he was not on the best terms with everyone and he has not been back to the base since that day. Well he came back with me and he stayed all evening to attend Heart of Worship. HOW is a group of young Rwandans who meet every week just to worship God for who He is. They sing mainly music from Hillsong so it is mostly in English. They recently began meeting on base. Selassie had such a wonderful time that he is coming next week and he said he never wanted to miss another one. I am happier than I can say to be able to see God redeeming him in this way. He has seen deep and wide hypocrisy in the church here and it has distorted his view of God so for him to be able to tell me that our God is amazing or to be able to lift his hands in worship is a true renewing of his mind. God is reinforcing in my mind the truth that He can heal all hurt.

Well, I am leaving for the book group soon so I will say bye for now. Talk to you later!

Isimbi Johanna

Muraho!

Hi there!

So I am in Rwanda after my two days of traveling. I am so very happy to be back in this wonderful country with the people I love so much.

Unfortunately, I have not been having all that much fun yet as Laura has been quite sick the past few days. I was looking for her at the airport when I arrived but it was just Robert there to pick me up (not that I wasn't very happy to see my Rwandan big brother again). Laura was getting over a case of amoebas when I got here and we thought she was recovering. By Wednesday morning though she had a fever of almost 102 so that day we ended up taking her to King Faisal Hospital here in Kigali and she just got out last night. Thank the Lord she does not have malaria or typhoid; probably just a viral infection. We had to do battle for them to let her out of the hospital last night and we waited for a doctor to release her for hours. They have still not returned her deposit which she is supposed to be refunded on so Robert is going back to fight for her money. He is very protective of her. She is still weak although the fever finally is gone. I am going back to the hospital with Robert today to join forces in making sure they do not try to take advantage of her. So in short it has been an exciting first couple of days!

God has already blessed my time here beyond anything I ever expected. He is so good to me. I have greatly enjoyed seeing and talking with old friends here at the base and today was the best day of all!!! I was walking outside my room when Noah stopped me and said he had a message for me. Noah is one of my former teachers. He said that yesterday in town he saw Selassie and when he told him that I was back in Rwanda Selassie asked Noah to give me his number so that I can get in touch with him. So just a few hours ago I talked to Selassie!!!! For those of you who have never read my blog before Selassie was I student in my school when I first came to Rwanda and we became very close in a short time. God created our personalities to be very similar and we both called each other 'my twin'. Selassie was the one who gave me my Kinyarwanda name, Isimbi. After only a month Selassie had to leave our school. He was dealing with overwhelming burdens at the time; things that I cannot imagine having to experience even one of and yet he was dealing with several. I lost contact with him shortly after he left school and he wouldn't return my or Laura's calls. That was a year and a half ago. I have prayed for him continuously since then. In fact, God taught me a lot about interceding for others through Selassie because I have never in my life experienced such a burden to pray for someone as I do for him. So for him to contact me was the most joyful thing I could have hoped for in Rwanda. He is suppose to come meet me at a church I go to this Sunday and then we will go talk somewhere after! I am hoping and praying that I will get to see him although just talking with him was an answer to prayer that amazed me. Yeah, it has been a good first few days!

I have to go fight with a hospital in a little while so I will talk to you later...

Isimbi Johanna

As I Go

Hello all of you,

Well it is somewhat difficult for me to write that in a few hours I am heading down to Boston where I will begin my flights heading to Rwanda and then three weeks later to South Africa. It is difficult because to be utterly honest I don't want to go yet. I know, that sounds odd coming from the girl who loves to travel but I am leaving with intensely mixed emotions this time. As most of you know I have been living in Montana since last summer which means I have only been back with my family for a month. Not very long. In fact I just had to say bye to my brother who is off to the camp he works at and my sister is leaving in an hour for work. I'll miss them so much. I'm also feeling a scary 'I don't want to leave my comfort-zone and head into the unknown again' sensation. Now you know where I'm at. So why go at all?

Because I will not be lukewarm. I will not be a comfortable Christian. I want my faith in Jesus Christ to consistently lead me to do things that are scary. I'm not talking about being stupid in my faith but maybe a little reckless. The times when I take steps to follow God's commands in the Bible that I don't think I can handle; that's when I know that God is all-sufficient. He has never ever failed me. And He is the best cure for a case of nerves that I have ever found. When I focus on who my God is my surroundings and circumstances don't change but they're sure not very intimidating anymore. He kind of dwarfs everything on earth by comparison.

I am spending three weeks in Rwanda and am tremendously excited for that. The purpose of this visit is simply to visit friends. My dear friend and sister Laura Mutesi, who was in the DTS with me in Rwanda last year, has moved back to Kigali to teach English in a school there. I will be staying with her at the same place we lived last year which means I get to see my teachers and some of my classmates again. On July 1 I fly down to South Africa for Youth With A Mission's (YWAM) Introduction to Primary Healthcare school.

I am not entirely sure what to expect from this school but what I do know excites me. I will spend 3 months of classes in Worcester, SA learning the basics of health care in a developing nation. The second half of the school I will go somewhere and work in a healthcare setting. This part could be in SA or it could be another country. I am something of a loner who tends to avoid responsibility so the thought of someone's health depending on me...yeah, I don't naturally want to go there. This is what makes me get over that tendency:

-Approximately 25,000 people die every day of hunger or its related causes. 9 million people per year. Think about that. The leading cause of death in the world is from a lack of food.
-1.2 billion people in the world do not have access to clean water. As a result 5 million people die every year from water-related illnesses and every 15 seconds a child dies from this. I wonder how long it takes you to read this blog?
-In the U.S. and Europe 2 out of every 1,000 children die before they turn 5. In Africa, 165 out of every 1,000 die before they are 5 years old. The highest percentage of these is from birth complications followed by pneumonia and on and on and on...
-Malaria kills between 1.5 million and 2.7 million people per year and one child every 30 seconds.
-There are 33 million people in the world infected with HIV. 70% of them are in Africa. 3 nations in sub-Saharan Africa have an infection rate over 20%. There are 15 million children orphaned by AIDS.

I could go on but I think you get the idea. I know that I can't save every person who makes up these statistics but those numbers drive me crazy. It pushes me past myself and screams at me so loudly that I can't ignore them. I don't even want to imagine how loudly it screams out to God who sees everything. Well, there you go. That is what I am doing and why I am going.

Some of you have expressed a desire to support me financially, which is greatly appreciated, and I will need a bombardment of prayers. You can contact my father ( a.k.a. my banker) if you would like to send funds along. I also am encouraged to hear from any of you while I am away. Talk to you later!

Isimbi Johanna

Return to Africa!

Just a quick note to update Johanna's friends that on Thursday she recieved official acceptance to the YWAM school in Worcester, South Africa. The school runs from July to December 2009. Johanna hopes to spend several weeks in Rwanda prior to flying to South Africa.

You may read more about the Introduction to Primary Health Care course at: http://www.ywamworcester.org.za/iphc.htm

Johanna would appreciate your prayers as she concludes her time in Bozeman, Montana, travels to Texas for her brother's college graduation, returns home to New Hampshire for a month and then leaves for Africa.

Let's see if we can persuade her to share her heart and thoughts with us here!

Johanna's Folks