Double Vision

Hi all,

I know I know and I'm sorry. I should have posted before now. Just in case any of you don't know I made it home safely and had a great Christmas with my family.

It is very difficult to try to keep you updated once I get home because I find it hard to put into words. I've been trying to for weeks but can't really explain it; the joy and sorrow of coming home. I am so glad to be spending time with my family and in a lot of ways being in the states is comfortable and easy. I can take hot showers with running water, I can eat whenever I want and whatever I want, I can drive myself places, I can set the temperature to what I like, I have a bed to sleep on, and I can entertain myself however I choose.

The problem is that although I can do all this I can't do it blissfully. I have spent enough time in other countries and cultures that I know things now because I've seen them. I know that so many kids not only don't have running water they don't even have clean water and if they do so many don't know that they need to wash every day. I've seen them covered in scabies and open running sores because of that. I've washed them. I know that there are kids who get one meal a day...of tea. I've seen them so malnourished I could count the bones showing through their skin. I've held them. I know there are people who walk for miles and miles in the hopes of getting medical care. I've seen them lined up waiting patiently for their turn. I've walked with them. I know there are people who don't have adequate protection from the elements. I've seen their homes. I've sat shivering with them. I know there are orphans who have no beds or blankets. I've seen the cement floors they share. I've played games with them. I know there are teens who have such limited options they will have sex, get pregnant, contract HIV, join gangs, and get sent to prison because of boredom. I've seen teens who've done this. I've talked with them.

So as I hope you can see it is a difficult blessing; having double vision. I do however know that everything my Lord has shown me He will use. The passion He has placed in me would not be complete if I hadn't seen what I've seen. I look forward to His continued teaching. And now I'll be seeing you guys!

Isimbi Johanna

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

Images: Joy & Contentment...

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

Children who cheat death

Hello people,

I am writing my last note to you all from Uganda. We leave on Friday morning to drive to Athi River, Kenya. I have to tell you about the people I will remember the most from my time here in Soroti.

The YWAM base I stayed at has a ministry for children living with HIV/AIDS like I said. The minstry consists of two houses almost right next to each other. The first house is called Amacet n'ainapakin which means 'shelter of peace' in Ateso, the local dialect. It is a temporary home for young children who would often times die if they were not taken in. Some of them are postive for HIV while others have simpler health problems and some are just taken in as newborns because there mothers died giving birth and they have to be looked after. The goal of this ministry is to get the children healthy enough for them to be able to go back home to their families. This home is where I and some of the others from our team worked to help take care of these kids

Let me start with Esther. She is about a year and a half old although they don't know her exact age because her mother was a mentally unsound woman who lived on the street. When she was taken to the hospital she told everyone that her baby was dead. The policewoman who found Esther gave her her own name since they didn't know what to call her. Nobody knows who Esther's father is and her mother disappeared when she was released from the hospital. Esther's only chance for a home other than Amicet is to be adopted. She is such a joy to be around! She is almost walking know and she talks all the time. Her favorite word is Auntie which she calls everybody nonstop, even guys. Esther loves music and she will sing or dance to herself.

Probably the two sickest kids right now at Amicet are Dennis and David. They are both skin and bones although David at least will eat by himself and Dennis has to have a feeding tube. They are both over two years I think but it is hard to tell. David is wanting to be held all the time and he is a very good cuddler. Dennis, however, I am convinced could make any woman in the world fall in love with him. He has the most enormous brown eyes and you will find yourself just staring at him when all of a sudden this smile will spread across his face and...boom, you are done for. Please pray that both of these little men will be able to gain weight. Dennis also has a urinary tract infection and he has not been responding to any drugs.

I have to tell you about my favorite. The other girls think I am crazy for liking her but Silivia is my girl. We all have the kids that we dream about taking home with us and I would take Silivia home if I could. Silivia is about 16-months but she is close to the size of a 4-month old. She cannot talk, walk, or even sit up by herself until recently. She cries so easily; if the other kids just brush against her foot it startles her and sends her off into one of her screaming fits but they only last for five seconds. Surprisingly, she is not HIV-positive. Actually, the doctors don't know what is wrong with her. Silivia may seem to be rather irritating at first; even I thought so until one day when I was putting her to bed. I discovered that Silivia loves to reach up with her tiny little hand and touch peoples' faces. And if you kiss her hand her entire face is transformed by smiles. When I give her kisses on her cheek she becomes beautiful and she isn't the funny looking kid with a head too big for her body anymore. She also likes to look around the room and if anyone is smiling she immediately joins in. I'm telling you her face radiates joy when she smiles. My dream is to take her to America, find a doctor who knows what is wrong, and help her grow up to be the woman God intended her to be.

The second home is called Amacet n'amun which means 'shelter of hope'. It is a long-term home for kids living with HIV/AIDS. They are older; between the ages of ten and fourteen. It is more like a family than the first home. Our team was blessed to be able to spend most afternoons hanging out with these kids after school. The guys played football with the boys and the girls all played games together. These kids are awesome. They are the image of perseverance and hope in a situation that seems hopeless. They do not have easy lives and most are orphans but they smile and love and laugh. I know that God views these kids as His own priceless jewels on earth. They shine for Him.

I'm sorry for how long this post is and I know that I haven't shared much about myself but I had to tell you about the unforgettable people I met in Uganda. Chances are I will never see them again after I leave and the hard reality is that within a few years many of these children from both homes may be dead. I have nevertheless been blessed beyond description to have been given the chance to see them live. I am amazed that God continues to allow us to see His treasured things particularly when we seem to often mistreat what He so deeply cares about. Yet He stills shares more and more with us. I know it's an understatement but God is really brave to do that. I am so thankful that we have the God that we have.

OK, I will force myself to stop here since my time is running out:) I will see you all in the end of May. Bye! Ndagakunda cyane!

Isimbi Johanna

Chickens and attack helicopters!

Hi people!

I have to say that I had the most unique and probably most fun Easter sunday that I have ever had yesterday. I woke up early so that I could slaughter chickens! I told some of my African team members back in Rwanda that I wanted to learn how to kill a chicken and they let me kill five of them and then I defeathered them and learned how to cut them up. I won't go in to more details for those of you who are grossed out but any of you that want to know the specifics for killing a chicken just ask me when I get back:) I have pics of it up on facebook for those of you that can access that but I couldn't post them here.

Then I went to church and after it was over the guy who was giving us a ride back to base gave us a tour of his flight academy. We went up into the control tower and since the military also uses that place we got to get a tour of a military attack helicopter. It was really cool. It was loaded with rocket bombs and had a 30-mm gun in front. I am hoping that tomorrow I might get to go back and sit in the planes that the school uses. I also got to learn how to make chipotis that afternoon which is a bread type thing that is absolutely delicious. All in all it was a good day.

Time goes so fast. We have less than three weeks remaining in Uganda and less than two months until we graduate. I will be happy to go home and see people and to be totally honest I am looking forward to a Dunkin' Donuts medium french vanilla coffee almost as much. At the same time though I will be heartbroken to leave. I keep leaving bits of myself all over Africa. I guess every time I do God replaces what I lost with Himself so that I am never depleted or running dry. It's better that way. I'd rather lose myself even though sometimes it hurts if it means that I get to feel more of what God feels. And I will need His strength because coming here is not always easy. I really enjoy it sometimes and I joke about how fun it is to kill chickens but the truth is that in the long run I will only be able to last in Africa if God keeps pouring Himself out into me. I find it amazing that He even does but I am so grateful. The Johanna Beachy that I am on my own cannot deal with little children, even babies, who are slowly dying. They seem just like ordinary kids sometimes until they suddenly throw up or I see a kid that I think is maybe a few months old until I find out that she is over a year old.

I also am incapable of dealing with the amount of inside pain that I have seen people living with. It will sometimes just rise up and smack me in the face when I am not expecting. Someone will be talking and the next thing you know someone else makes a remark about how during the genocide they fell down a hole while running for their life and broke their back and that they had to lay there covered with a bag of beans to try to hide since they couldn't move. It's a whole different world and I don't know how I'm going to go home. Sorry I didn't mean to get all depressing but that is what it is like to live with Rwandese. I would love them so much if only for how much they have survived and God has protected them through. I love this God who keeps people alive when it is humanly impossible to do so. And He is the same God who then sustains me when I am facing the pain that comes as a result of their experiences. How amazing is that! Every time I see how big and powerful He is I am so honored that He cares for every little thing about me.

Yeah, if you want to see some more about the God who cares for you come to Africa, especially Rwanda, and you will be blown away. I think a lot of people in America have this view of God as our Father and best Friend which is totally true but sometimes we can forget about this whole other side of Him. He is the Defender of the weak and oppressed, a Warrior King, and all-powerful in everything He does. I've gotten some awesome glimpses of my Lord in that role here and it gives me goosebumps. Actually, it drives me to my knees. You don't stand in the presence of a King like that. And if you really want to be in awe of Him take a look in the Bible about what he says regarding the widows and orphans. I have learned a lot about His heart towards them in the past few months. He loves them alright but I was amazed and scared to see the way He will act against those who abuse them. He has such a tender spot for orphans and widows that anyone who dares to hurt them or even to just not help them out should be really scared.

OK, I love talking about HIm but I am running out if time now. I will see and talk to you people in June. Bye!

Ndagakunda cyane! Imana ibahe umugisha!

Isimbi Johanna

Hello from the other side of the equator!

Hi everybody!

I have to be very quick but I wanted to let you know that I arrived safely in Uganda:)

The bus trip was long and very bumpy. We drove across the equator along the way which was cool. I found it even more fascinating to drive across the Nile! On one side was all big modern buildings and the on the other side down by the shore I looked out the window and saw some fishermen in little dugout canoes. That is what I have found Africa in general to be like; a blend of modern up to date technology and old old traditions that have hardly changed in the past few thousand years. Maybe that is part of the appeal.

Oh, I need to go. I will post a more complete update later that includes what it was like working with little children with AIDS. Talk to you soon!

Isimbi Johanna