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
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
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
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.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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.
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
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
Monday, October 12, 2009
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
The NH Beachys
Monday, September 28, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
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
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
Friday, September 18, 2009
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
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
Monday, September 7, 2009
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
Saturday, September 5, 2009
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
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
Thursday, August 20, 2009
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 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
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