I am......

She was only 13. Ronelle's story.

2012-01-26T06:04:00.000-08:00

I have a friend called Ronelle. She is 26 years old and she lives in a homeless shelter in Durban.
When Ronelle was 12 years old her mother passed away and Ronelle was placed into care. She was there for almost a year before she be-friended an older girl, this girl became like an older sister to her and they were very close. They were always together and Ronelle really looked up to this girl.
One evening Ronelle and her friend went for a walk. They stopped at a tavern and her friend disappeared with a man, leaving Ronelle alone for a while. When she returned she told Ronelle how they needed to go to the girls grandmother's house and pick up some clothes. When they reached the house there was no grandmother and in her place there were 3 men. The men gave Ronelle's friend some money and the girl left Ronelle with the men and disappeared.

SHE WAS 13!

For 3 days Ronelle was held against her will and raped over and over. As she sat and described this experience to me she goes to another place, a place deep inside of her. it is like she is going through it all over again.
She can smell the alcohol on the men's breath, she can hear the foul names that they called her, she can feel their rough hands on her body. I can see the pain in her eyes as she is speaking words that she has never spoken to anyone before.
On the 3rd day she was left alone with just one of the men. He drank so much that he passed out and she managed to escape. Wearing just a t-shirt and underwear she ran the 10km back to the orphanage and told the nuns that ran the place what had happened to her (they had not reported her missing!).
The Nuns rushed her to hospital where she spent the next few hours being prodded and poked. Every test possible was done on her and everything came back negative.

SHE WAS 13.

She had no family and the Nuns said that she had bought it all on herself. She was totally alone.

nearly 5 months went by and she started to have pains in her tummy, she describes it as someone trying to pull her insides out. She started to bleed and the smell was very bad, so she went to one of the Sisters and they told her that it was just her period and that it would go away soon.
A couple more weeks passed and the pain got worse although the bleeding stopped. One day while using the bathroom she felt that there was something very wrong. She took a mirror and looked at herself. To her horror she saw that there was a tiny hand attached to a tiny arm coming out of her. She was rushed to hospital where her dead unborn baby boy was taken out of her.

SHE WAS 13!

I can not imagine going through even half of what this amazing woman has been through.
Today I look at this woman and I am honored to call her "friend". I am amazed at who she has become in spite of this horrific journey.

She is strong and intelligent, funny (SO funny), compassionate and loving. She is feisty and savy. She is an amazing mother and a loyal friend.

This girl who has been broken by man over and over is now in the process of being healed by God.
In the 3 years that I have known Ronelle is have seen an incredible restoration in her. I know that God has great plans for this woman.

He has given her beauty for ashes. He has proclaimed liberty over her captive soul. He is healing her broken heart.
To be a part of this woman's life is so humbling for me. And I know that He has placed her in my life to teach me the many valuable lessons that my stubborn heart needs to learn.

She truly is one of His BELOVED people and she is my friend.

If you would like to support the work that I do with these broken but beloved people please feel free to click on the PayPal button at the top of the page and donate. We really do appreciate every support that is given.

Gotcha!

2012-01-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

6 years ago today this little boy came home forever!He was this tiny little bundle of chubbiness and Afro. The moment I laid eyes on this baby I became a mother. I might not have carried him inside my womb but I had carried him in my heart for as long as I could remember. He was my dream come true and every day since I have fallen more and more in love with him.

He is so smart and funny. He is sensitive and caring. He is gifted and so very talented. He is mine and I love him with every part of my being.

He has taught me so much about myself, he has caused me to be a better person. He knows how to make me laugh and he knows when I need a hug.

He is my joy.

Joseph uKheta Downs you are amazing and I will love you always and forever.

Showing off.

2012-01-04T05:51:00.001-08:00

So I'm pretty rubbish! I know that right now I should be doing a Christmas/New Year post, but I'm not! I cant find my camera cable and so therefore I can not upload and photos to the computer and therefore can not post about the festivities. I refuse to post without the relevant photos. So there it is! And here we are with yet another chicken post.....don't complain....be thankful!

This beauty is Myrtle, she is not at all tame, in fact she is quite wild but I love her anyway. I thought that she was lost. That's the problem with free-range hens, if they don't pitch up for a few days you don't really know if they have been eaten by a wild beast, sitting on eggs or stolen. Well Myrtle disappeared for a few days and when I came out to feed them the other day I found her sitting like this in the yard. All puffed up and looking quite pleased with herself.

So I asked her where she had been to which she answered by standing up to reveal these adorable little peepers.
She was pretty pleased with herself and continued on her way back into the bush with her trail of little puff balls behind her. I think she just stopped by to show off.

Tis the Season....... or not.

2011-12-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

Luke 1 5-20

So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancee, who was pregnant.

^6-7While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

An Event for Everyone

^8-12There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

^13-14At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

^15-18As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

^19-20Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!

A day that is now celebrated world wide, all different cultures and races. Rich and poor, Believers and non-believers.

That last part has always confused me! Believers and non-believers celebrate Christmas, why is that? Non-Muslims do not celebrate Ramadan. Non-Hindus do not celebrate Diwali. Non-Jewish do not celebrate Hanukkah so why do non-Christians celebrate Christmas?

Wanna know why? Its because Christmas is no longer a religious festival, no longer a Christian celebration. It is now a celebration of consumerism a commercial festival of greed! OUCH that's hard to read right?

But its true, at least for the majority of those who are caught up in the festivities of Christmas. Believer and non-believers alike. I can raise my hand in guilt. I was on the festival of consumerism bandwagon, and I threw myself over board approximately 4 days ago.

I was in the mall trying to find gifts for my kids. There were people everywhere, shopping carts piled high with food, alcohol and gifts. Kids complaining and throwing tantrums, Mums looking stressed, ticking off items from meter long shopping lists, dads looking bored just wanting to be home watching whatever game was on the box.

I stood back and watched a family of 4 trying to push 6 shopping carts full of Christmas "supplies" to their car. and I felt sad. I thought about how God sent His son. A human baby boy born in a stable to a teenage mother. Even before He was born He was destined to die. To die for the sins of the world, to suffer for others.

God did that for us, He sent His son. Check out John 3:16, its the truth. And once a year we celebrate the birth of that Savior by spending unnecessary amounts of money on "stuff". By eating until we cant move, by drinking until we pass out.

I'm not doing it any more. I refuse to let my desire for wanting more "stuff" be more important than the sacrifice that God made that night when He sent His only Son to earth.

I refuse to let my children grow up thinking that Christmas is about getting more, about how many gifts under the tree have their names on. I want them to know that Christmas is and always has been about giving not receiving. It is about the gift of Jesus, the gift of God's unconditional love. It is about giving with out agenda, giving with out expectancy. Giving love, time and friendship. About giving His joy to others.

So this Christmas I'm keeping it real, not going over the top with spending, but instead I will be going over the top in sharing His love with those in my life.

Just a thought.

It's a meatless Monday.

2011-12-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

I'm really trying to cut meat out of our diet as much as possible. Main reason for this is here in SA the price of meat has really gone up and the other reason is I just think its not too healthy to be eating meat too often. So in saying that I thought I would share a meatless recipe that I cooked for dinner tonight. Do what you will with it ;-)

Soba bowls

1 pound of whole wheat spaghetti

2 tablespoons of veg oil.

1 large onion, very finely sliced

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1 cup grated carrot

4 medium zucchinis sliced

15 mushrooms sliced

3 handfuls of baby spinach

8 cups veg stock

1 cup bean sprouts

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon chili powder

soy sauce

Cook spaghetti, drain and toss in a little veg oil. Set aside.

In large soup pot add 2 tablespoons of veg oil over medium heat.

Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and zucchini and cook until the onions are tender.

Add mushrooms and spinach and cook for 3 mins.

Add stock and bring up to simmer for 5 mins.

Add sprouts and remove from heat.

In small bowl combine sesame seeds and spices.

To serve, use tongs to twist a portion of spaghetti into bottom of bowl. Splash on some soy and sprinkle with Sesame seeds and spices to taste. Ladle in the vegetables and broth.

ENJOY!

The Boys are back in Town!

2011-12-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

Draco.

Albus.

Snape.
Ron.

Percy.

Lupin.

For anyone who has roosters you will know that this gang makes for a lively morning wake up call!

They are just children........ COP17 "clean-up"

2011-11-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

I have many passions in life. A good book, baking, my chickens ;-). From reading my blog these passions are pretty evident. But I have one passion that out weighs all of the others, and that is my love and heart for those in need.

This passion shows its self in various ways in my life, but I think the strongest part of this passion is the love and compassion that I have for street children and the homeless.

For the past 3 years I have been spending time in a homeless shelter in the Point area of Durban town center. To say that this area is "ghetto" would be an understatement. Its CRAZY! and I LOVE IT! I feel more at home on Pickering street than I do anywhere else.

The area is ran by Nigerian drug lords and the 27 gang. The streets are packed with dealers, hookers and street kids, and you know what? These are my kind of people. I know that God has placed me on the planet to love these people with an unconditional love. To be consistent, to be Him to them.

To show them a love that no one else has ever shown them, a love that heals and restores. A love that empowers and makes a difference.

I spend my time loving the prostitutes and snuggling their babies. Praying for them, giving them my clothes and buying them bread and giving them condoms.

The street children have no parents to love and guide them and so they turn to the dealers for safety and security. They are used as drug mules and sex workers. Most of them are addicted to glue as the sensation of sniffing the substance takes away the hunger pains. When I am not with these people, these children, my heart aches for them. I am scared that the next time I go there some one will have passed away or has been taken by the police. Sadly many times I have received a phone call to tell me that one of my much loved girls has passed away or has been murdered by a "client".

Today the COP17 Climate Summit began in Durban. This is great, people from all over the world getting together to talk about how we can stop global warming and all that crazy stuff. What is not great about this global attention is that the Metro Police of Durban are on a mass "clean-up".

When I say clean up I don't mean that they are going around with big garbage trucks and taking all the rubbish and making the city pretty for the world media.

Oh no forget the rubbish, instead lets clean-up the street children and the homeless!! Yep that's right, the police are driving around the city in their riot vans and kidnapping the kids off the streets and taking them out of the city and dumping them by the side of the road and leaving them to fend for themselves.

This happens every time there is any kind of world media coverage in our city. The World Cup, international surf comps, world summits. The children are herded up like cattle for the slaughter and NO ONE is doing anything to stop it. There are organizations who work in the city trying so hard to make life better for these kids, people like myself who are using their own time and resources to try and protect these children. We are shouting about it. Trying to get the attention of those who can stop this from happening but it is falling on deaf ears.

The Chief of police, the city management, the mayor, these are the people who are making these decisions and when they are confronted about this situation they deny it all.

The paper quoted the city's metro police spokesman Eugene Msomi saying all begging streetchildren and adults would be rounded up because they mugged tourists.

"We often remove them from the streets when there are big events like the World Cup and major conferences, because some of them mug tourists and damage the image of the country," he said."You find that tourists are unfamiliar with the area and would be intimidated and even mugged by these street beggars."The United Nations Climate Change conference (COP17) will be held at Durban's Inkosi Albert Luthuli convention centre from November 28 to December 9. The conference is expected to attract 20 000 delegates.'

So Mr Msomi says this and then when interviewed on the news he changes his mind and says that this does not happen. I know first hand that this is going on as I have seen it with my own eyes. We do have a crime problem in Durban but kidnapping children off the streets and dumping them somewhere else does not solve the problem it just moves it to another area. Yesterday a radio station from Denmark called me to talk to me about this situation. The lady was shocked and horrified that this was going on and said that no one outside on Durban knows that this is going on. I personally would go as far as saying no one inside of Durban knows that this is going on, other than those of us down there on the front line.

Please join me and pray for these children and adults who not only have to fight to survive but also have to hide from those who should be protecting and helping them.

Please also pray that God provides funding and a vehicle for me to be able to continue the work that I am doing with these amazing but broken people.

Whats REEEEEEEEEALLY annoying............

2011-11-21T05:21:00.000-08:00

Do you know whats really annoying? Slower than slow internet! I'm going nuts! Guess its all part of living in "middle-of-Africa."

I just want to do a proper blog post with all my photos and lots of writing but every time I do a biggie my server times out and crashes and the post wont upload and I end up using very bad language and then I have to repent. Its exhausting.

So this is my little ranty post and I am going to attempt to add one photo that makes me smile............. ready?

Did it post? Oh I hope so.

2011-11-03T02:53:00.000-07:00

Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens

by Jack Prelutsky

Last night I dreamed of chickens,
there were chickens everywhere,
they were standing on my stomach,
they were nesting in my hair,
they were pecking at my pillow,
they were hopping on my head,
they were ruffling up their feathers
as they raced about my bed.

They were on the chairs and tables,
they were on the chandeliers,
they were roosting in the corners,
they were clucking in my ears,
there were chickens, chickens, chickens
for as far as I could see...
when I woke today, I noticed
there were eggs on top of me.

Forever and ever.......

2011-11-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

A. A Milne.

2011-10-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry fairies..... we ate it for dinner.

Farm News........

2011-10-20T01:31:00.001-07:00

I love farm life. I adore my chickens in a weird maternal way. Others think I am obsessed but I just think I really, really, really, love them......OK maybe I am obsessed! Like this guy above for instance, his name is Draco and he loves nothing more than having me carry him around. He comes to me when I call his name, when I drive in the gate, when I take food out to them. He jumps on my lap for me to scratch under his wing. I love him.

In other farm related news..... my stove has died. This is my biggest nightmares at the moment. I can deal with having no hot water in my taps, I can deal with being low on money, but not having my oven is KILLIN me! We have been cooking on a open fire for 3 weeks now, and its getting pretty old! At first it was kinda fun, like camping out. Seeing what meals I could come up with to cook on the fire, but now 3 weeks later I'm done. I want to bake. I REALLY WANT TO BAKE! I want to make pretzels, and pizza and bread. Scones, cup cakes and a big fat German chocolate cake. Its Joe's birthday next week and I want to bake him a cake. But I need a miracle to be able to afford to get my oven fixed. So please pray for that for me
We have no cash for this kind of thing at the moment. So please pray for finances to come in.

And lastly in the farm related news for the day........ I have a whole HEAP of these little guys! Going to be selling them as soon as I find some one who wants them! I have chicks coming out my ears........ it is Spring after all! PEEP PEEP!

The Beautiful Berg......

2011-10-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

We have just come home from a trip to the mountains. We went with our friends and their kids. It was FANTASTIC! The kids had so much fun and the parents just relaxed the whole weekend. here are a few photos from our time away.

New Life.

2011-09-21T02:59:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks I have be so overly busy. All I want to do is sit down and write but I have not had the chance. I have a love/hate relationship with being busy. Being busy means that I am getting things done.....BONUS! Sadly they are usually things that I would rather not be getting done........ NON-BONUS!

Things like cleaning out the loft space in our already overly stuffed cottage. Parting with items that I really want to keep but cant. Or sitting in the office doing work stuffs! I don't like being in the office, it goes against every part of who I am to sit still in front of a computer and bang something out in Excel! Stresses me out just thinking about it.

But in saying all that I have been happy busy too. 2 Sundays ago I had a call from one of the girls at the homeless shelter, calling to say that one of the other girls had gone into labor. The ambulance wouldn't go and get her because of the area of town and the fact that they had no money. So she was calling me to help her deliver the baby over the phone! The mother of the baby was a 17 year old meth addicted prostitute and was a run away. The head was out and the girls were all panicking. I calmly talked them through what they needed to do and baby Nathan was born moments later.
Now that's the kind of "busy" I'm talkin about!!!!

Put me behind a desk and I can feel the life being sucked out of me.
Have me help to deliver a baby over the phone with a bunch of prostitutes as my delivery team and my life takes on meaning. I need to be out there. face to face with those who need Him. Those who have no one else. Those who need to know that they are amazing and strong and precious.
I drove down to the shelter to check up on the baby and when I got there the girls who had helped to deliver Nathan were on a high. So excited and full of stories for me. Of how they never knew that they could be part of something so amazing. Asanda's comment was " This is WAY better than Sugars (Meth). I could do this everyday instead of drugs."

I know that I am at a point of change in my life. And I am excited to see where God takes me in this. At the moment I am praying about going back to school, what to study?............... Mid-wifery of course ;-)

Phone Delivery

2011-09-12T00:45:00.000-07:00

This is Nathan and I delivered him over the phone! His mother lives in the homeless shelter/crack den and went into labor yesterday. The girls called me to tell them what to do. They had called the ambulance but because they didn't have any money they wouldn't go and pick her up. So with me on the phone and 3 other girls from the shelter we delivered baby Nathan. He is now in hospital with his mother. I took the last night. Seeing as she is a meth addict Nathan seemed to be in great condition. However there is still alot that needs to change in order for him to have a decent life.

Please pray for him and his mother.

Steve Biko 18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977

2011-09-12T00:35:00.001-07:00

" I write what I like."

She needs you.

2011-08-31T05:37:00.000-07:00

This is Nokulunga and she is 6 years old. 3 weeks ago when she was walking to school she was raped. Her mother died, there is no father and she lives with her elderly Grandfather. We are looking for some one to sponsor her. If you feel that you could be that someone please please please email me at vashti.downs@gmail.com . If you are reading this and you know that you can not financially afford to sponsor her please pray for this precious girl. We need you, she needs you. Thanks guys.

Vash x

Loving waking up.

2011-08-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

This is how I have been waking up since staying at my sisters house! Gilby gets deposited into my bed in the early hours of the morning so that my sister can get some much needed sleep. This is how we wake up, Gil holding my face. I really love him. Think maybe its time to get to making one of these........ had better give Mart a heads up.

8 years today........ And I'm on another continent.

2011-08-23T04:25:00.000-07:00

I LOVE YOU MR DOWNS..............

From Mrs Downs.

Holiday round up.

2011-08-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

I have spent most of my time in the UK down in Devon. My sister and her family are down there and I really love Devon, its where I grew up. Amy lives in a small village and the day I got to them it was the village show! Lots of awesome veggies and flowers, cakes and scones.

The twins had made cupcakes to enter in the show and they came 2nd in their category. They were very proud of themselves.

This little stall was at the side of the road. It is an honesty stall. Take what you need and leave the cash in a box. This so wouldn't work in South Africa!

I love the idea of it though.

Gilby has me wrapped around his little fat pinky finger! Who could say no to those beautiful eyes? I am going to miss him so much. Cant believe he will be a year old the next time I see him.

This place had me at "Pasties sold here."

Music at the farm was a great day out. The twins love their music teacher Mervyn.....so do all the mums!! I really wish that I had Joe and Jesse with me because they would have loved every moment of it.

Gilby.

Maggie takes pottery very seriously.

And I got a new pair of shoes.

Love letters.

2011-08-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Joseph uKheta.

The moment that my eyes caught sight of your beautiful face I became a mother. From that moment my life changed. You consumed me, my heart beat for you. my joy, my dream come true. Everything I have ever wished for. That is you. You are my son and I love you more than life itself.

Jesse Benjamin.

You are the joy and the fun.The giggles and the snuggles.They bought you to me and my heart skipped a beat. I took you into my arms and into my heart. I knew you were mine, a part of me come home, where you belonged. You are my son and I love you more than life itself.

Giddy up.

2011-08-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

This week was my beautiful friend Galaxy's birthday. Galaxy is a horse chick! So for her birthday are load of us got together and took a trip the the Drakensburg Mountains to the Rolling M Ranch. We went on the most amazing ride through the mountains, over the valley bed and through a number of rivers.

I hadn't ridden for a couple of months and let me tell you, the next day my bum was S.O.R.E! But it was so worth it. That day was one of the best days that I have ever had since living in South Africa!

And yes the sky really was the color blue!

Update

2011-07-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

Fun with Cousins

Jesse

Joe in Grandpa's sports car

My Grandma

Since my last post about having to leave the farm I can tell you we are still here....not sure how exactly and I dont have any more news on that subject as yet but will keep you informed .... please join with us in thanking God!

Please see update on Cindi at my other blog

We had a great time in the UK, spent time with family and having trips out which was lovely. The hole affairs have messed up my visa and I have to leave the country again in August instead of later on in the year. Please pray for funds for me to buy the flight I need to return to SA. I will onlt be there for a week but my parent will be taking me down to Devon so I can see all my grandparents who I havent seen for a few years and who are all getting on in age now.

URGENT PRAYER

2011-06-27T04:04:00.000-07:00

This photo is of me in the Summer 2010, visiting and walking around what is now our little house here on the farm...I was praying, asking God to give us this property to rent. He answered that prayer and now we also rent another little cottage for the Project O offices.

Today we heard from the couple who rent the main house and who deal with all the other rentals on the farm to say that they have received an evictions order and everyone has to move off the farm by Friday!!!

I think most of my raders know we love living here. Please pray that we will be able to stay....Martin is trying to contact the owners of the property and appeal to them as Christians and as people in full time ministry, asking them to allow us to stay.

Please stand with us in this....we woul love to stay but above all we wantGod's will in our lives. We know we have a mighty God, one who loves, protects and provides for us.

We know we can stand firm in the knowledge of that.

Thank You!

Time for Tea.

2011-06-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

Grandma took Jesse and I out for coffee yesterday.This is where we went, Greentea in Leighton Buzzard. It is a pretty little tea room. I had a great latte and a blue cheese and onion jam toasted sandwich.....YUMMY!

I love how they have made shelves out of old vegetable crates. The counter top had an awesome old type writer sitting on it and lots of pretty cake stands with yummy home made cakes waiting to be eaten.My boy had a piece of toast with jam and a glass of apple juice. He was happy!

Ben.

2011-06-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is my little brother. He is a professional photographer and he is amazingly talented. Check out his work at his website.

My Heart has been stolen by a chubby little baby.

2011-06-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Gilby Skipp as stolen my heart.

On the farm.

2011-06-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

I LOVE him.

2011-06-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy........

2011-06-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

Magnolia, Joe, Gilby, Jesse and Primrose = T.R.O.U.B.L.E

We have NOT stopped! I'm exhausted but we have been having loads of fun. Here are a few pics of what we have been up to.
Here are the kids playing in the V&A fountain.

Flying kites.

Pulling very scary dinosaur faces in the Natural History Museum.

More kites.

Busy, that's us!

Where are we?

2011-06-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well we are in the UK again! I have been writing a Blog post for the past 3 weeks and still haven't finished it! I will post it when I get back to SA in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I will put up bits and bobs of our time here in the UK. Tonight my sister and her family and my youngest bro and his wifey get here to stay, its gonna be HECTIC! and I cant wait.

In crisis mode.

2011-05-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Hi there everyone. Our phone line is down so no internet, thank God for my BlackBerry!!!
This post is a cry for help from my Bloggy land friends.

As most of you know we live by faith, in other words we do not take a wage for the work that we do here with the Orphans of South Africa. Some months are smoother than others and this month is not one of those smooth ones!

We are in crisis. We have been waiting for some promised funding to come in for a few weeks now. We budgeted for that financial amount and the money still has not come in.

We had a call from the vehicle financiers today saying that if we do not pay by monday they will come and repossess the vehicle. Without that truck we will have to shut down. We also use the same truck as a family vehicle. So with that done we as a family will be stuck at the farm.

Next stress is that a good chunk of money that was for our family support has not come in. We are at the point of no food, not even a loaf of bread, no gas, so not hot water, no medical coverage or school fees.

I am not coping. I have people left right and center telling me to pray, and I am. And now I am asking would you guys please also pray for us.
Please stand with us, believe for a miracle for us.

Thank you friends.
Love Vash

Bowled over by my boys.

2011-05-01T07:46:00.001-07:00

This week the kids have been off school, Cindy has been in the valley with her Grandmother and her biological brothers for the week and we needed to get our boys out of the house due to a serious case of cabin fever, so we went bowling!!! YEY I love bowling!

The boys had never been before and Joe was not too sure about putting the bowling shoes on but once convinced that it was fine to wear a stinky pair of shoes that 100's of other people had worn before him, we had great fun. For most of the game Joe was winning!

Then Mart got a double strike and wiped the floor with the lot of us!

It was so much fun and in Africa its REALLY cheap, guess we will be making it a family fun time for the Downs family more often.

Look what I found.

2011-05-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

Last week we had some crazy weather, loads of rain and storms. As I was driving through the sugar cane lined roads towards town a tiny kitten ran into the road. I swerved to avoid her and pulled the car over to see if she was OK. I found her in the ditch at the side of the road very wet and cold but unharmed. I had a good look around to see if I could find her mother but there was nothing. There are no houses around for miles so I picked her up, wrapped her in my jersey and took her shopping with me and then home. Much to the children's delight and my husbands dismay! For some crazy reason he thought that we had enough creatures!! Crazy man, dunno where he gets that idea!

Well a week later and Mart has changed his tune, to the point of him walking around the house with the kitten perched on his shoulder like a parrot! She is adorable and very funny. Milo is 4 years old and I had forgotten how much fun a kitten can be. She makes us laugh alot although Milo thinks that she is an royal pain in the butt!
Her name is Dobby Geekbaah Downs and we love her.

Good evening, my name is Vashti and I am a recipebookoholic.

2011-04-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

I have been in denial for a while now but I think it is time that I came clean, after all admitting is the first step to recovery, so they say! I have a recipe book addiction! There I said it, its out there, let the healing begin.......or not!

Above is a photo of some of my recipe books. Yep those are all books and magazines containing 100s of recipes and I love every single one of them. (notice I said "some"!)

So many components make up a good recipe book and believe it or not I am quite fussy when it comes to buying one. In my mind if I look at the book there has to be amazing photos otherwise I will put it straight back on the shelf. The book has to be well written and I have to want to and be able to make the majority of the recipes that are in the book.

Living in Africa means that there are alot of ingredients that I can not get hold of and if I can so many are very expensive as they are imported. So I love it when I find a book that is pretty and full of recipes that I know that I can put together well.

This is one of those books.

Shiny Happy People is by Neil Roake, he is South African! It has to be one of my favorite books as I know that I can make every recipe in it. And it is oh so pretty.
He has gone to all his friends houses and asked them for their favorite recipes. And then taken loads of awesome photos.

Through out the book there are quotes about food by famous people.

I want to share my most used recipe from his book with you. It is for these yummy seed bread rings.

Here's what you need........

4 cups of plain flour. Now I'm not a white bread person so I used stone ground organic whole wheat. But you don't have to, I'm just saying ;-)

1 teaspoon of sea salt.

1 packet of dry yeast. That's around 10g.

1 cup of milk.

1/2 cup water.

3 tablespoons olive oil.

Egg wash to coat the rings

And a few tablespoons of seeds. I use a mix of linseed, sunflower, pumpkin and sesame.

Place the flour,salt and yeast in a large bowl and mix.

Heat milk and water, not too much just so that it is warm. And then add the oil.

Pour wet into dry and mix to form dough. At this point I get my beloved KitchenAid out and use the dough hook. Knead for a few mins until smooth and elastic. Cover with damp tea towel and leave in warm place to rise. Takes about 1 1/2 hours.

Knock back and then take balls of dough, roll into sausages and form a ring, kinda like a bagel. Place on tray and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds. Leave for about another 30 mins and then bake until golden.

Trust me on this one, you are gonna want to make them ASAP! Eat them warm with butter and honey and you will be in Heaven!

Enjoy. Love Vash x

Saturday.

2011-04-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

I love Saturday mornings. Every week we get out of bed by 6am and set off to the Shongweni Farmers Market. I love it. The Durban area has a very strong Market culture, there are so many markets going on and all are very popular. The closest one to us is Shongweni. I do alot of our grocery shopping at this market as all the produce is grown locally and the cheeses and breads are all made in the Durban area. Even the beer stall, Robson's beer, is from here, in fact they are about 100 metres from our front gate (handy!).

Yesterday we spent a couple of hours at the market. The kids had muffins and pancakes for breakfast, Mart had a steak breakfast roll and I had a double shot latte! Its great family time although yesterday Cindy decided to stay in bed.......TEENAGERS!!!
As soon as I get to the market I make a bee line for the flower stall. They are so beautiful and so cheap and I'm a sucker for fresh flowers. They make me happy.

When we got home I let Luna and the peepers out for a scratch about. I have to keep a close eye on the peepers as one got eaten by Milo a couple of weeks ago! We are now down to 4 chicks and they are at the awkward stage of some adult feathers and some baby peeper fuzz. Awkward as they are Luna is still very proud of them!

I'm kind proud of my little ones too. It seems that both have decided to go into the superhero business. Jesse realizing that he does not in fact posses super hero powers has taken up the slingshot! Not too sure how I feel about this, I keep finding myself going outside to do a chicken head count.
Joe is sporting the Buzz Lightyear/gum boot/Mohawk look....pretty super heroish I do think!

Love you all. Vash x

The Carlsons...living their best life.

2011-04-14T03:14:00.000-07:00

Long Miles Coffee Project from Cooked in Africa on Vimeo.

On the up.

2011-04-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of building our next orphan home. This time the house is being built out of sand bags! The bags are used instead of bricks and are then plastered over. Pease pray for this building as we have had a few problems with the builders. If you would like to support us in the vanture and the work that we do please click on our donate button. We appreciate your prayers and support.

2011-04-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

God made the heavens— Royal splendor radiates from him, A powerful beauty sets him apart. Psalm 94:4-6

With Gilby it's all about those cheeks!

2011-04-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

happy and sad all at the same time.

2011-04-08T01:53:00.000-07:00

We have friends. Now you might think "So what? So do we." Well for us this is a really big deal. We have lived in South Africa for 6 years and in those 6 years we have made acquaintances, but not many true, real friends. You know the kind where we can be 100% ourselves with. Ones who we can be 100% accountable to and know that there is no judgement or condemnation when we screw up or loose faith. Ones that "get" us. They don't look at us like we are insane for doing what we do. Basically they are friends who are just as insane as us......maybe even more so cause in a few short weeks they are packing up all their worldly belongings, including 2 little munchkins and a Great Dane, and are moving to Burundi!

Yep that's Central Africa, REAL Africa!

I'm telling you all this cause I want you to go to their blog and follow their journey. Pray for them, stand in the gap for them. This is a huge step of faith for Ben and Kristy and as they are trying to do all the last minute organization I know that the enemy is trying his hardest to freak them out and get them to change their minds.

We love our friends. Their boys are our boys best buddies. Ben and Mart spend all their time pumping up each others faith and Kris is my safe place. I know that I can be me with her. We are going to miss them beyond words, but we are so excited to see what God is going to do with this family. So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE go follow them, drop them a line of encouragement. Let them know that you are praying for them.

Thanks friends.

Vash xx

What a day!

2011-04-06T03:56:00.000-07:00

As I type this post my husband is on a plane to go meet the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma! We are so blessed to have one of the Presidents daughters on our board of directors for Project O. Last month we had a board meeting and Gugu (above) flew to Durban for the meeting. The meeting was on the farm! It was so great to get to spend some quality time with Gugu. She is an amazing woman, who loves God and loves her country.

After our meeting she shared her heart with us, of how she 100% believes in the work that we are doing here with the orphans of South Africa. She promised to start some balls rolling as far as funding.

Well yesterday she gave Mart a call to tell him that he needed to fly to Pretoria today. She would pick him up from the airport and take him to the Presidential house, where he would get to spend some time with her father, THE PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!!

Oh and he needed to pack an over night bag as he was going to be spending the night at the President's house and having breakfast with him tomorrow morning! Im sorry but that doesnt just happen to people like us. We are just a couple of people from the uk, living in a tiny cottage on a farm. We have had a really crappy few months, I mean REALLY crappy, and yet we get a phone call saying that the President wants to have Mart over for a sleep over! HAHAHA!

I will tell you what.....the favour of God is astounding. It blows my mind. He is so good to those who love Him and obey His commands.

Please pray for Mart today. Pray that God gives him the words. Please pray for President Zuma, that God softens his heart and that the Holy Spirit goes ahead of Mart and prepares the way. Please pray that in all of this God's will is done.

Love.

2011-03-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

Mung bean sprouts.

2011-03-31T06:55:00.000-07:00

Joe and I are sprouting everything that we can lay our hands on that has sprouting potential! Our Mung beans were the first to sprout.......YUMMY!

I'm in love..........

2011-03-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

WITH THESE 3!

My Peepers.

2011-03-31T00:26:00.000-07:00

When I moved to the farm I knew that I wanted my own free-range flock of chickens, what I didn't know was that I would fall head over heels in love with my chickens! Yep I'm besotted! When they started laying I loved them even more, there are not many things that are more satisfying than going to the chicken coop every morning to gather free-range eggs laid by your chickie babies!

All my birds are named, none are destined for the table. They are egg laying pets. They come when I call them, most know their names and answer to them. Few will come in the house for a quick chat or to eat the ants that like to invade my kitchen. Luna and Albus will come in and sit on the bookshelf. Snape comes in to let everyone know that he is in fact the big boss, Bellatrix will come in to find Snape, she likes to keep an eye on him!

My Leghorns, Mrs Weasley and Lavender are the shy ones but are also the best layers and when they do lay an egg they announce it to the whole neighbourhood, they make me laugh.

And then there is Luna, my love Luna, she is my favorite (don't tell the others!). She decided to sit on some eggs and now she has 5 little peepers. My goodness they are cute and she is such a good mummy.

I know at his point of my post many of you are thinking that I might be nuts! Its OK, you my well be right! But I don't care! I love my chickens.

Peeping out from under Luna's wing.

We really need your help.

2011-03-30T00:37:00.000-07:00

Hi there. As most of you know we have decided to home school Cindy. We need help paying for the curriculum. Our money situation is more than tight right now. Even if we had decided to put her into school we couldn't afford the fees, homeschooling is a quarter of the price of an in school education.

With that said we are looking for a group of people who would like to sponsor Cindy's curriculum for this year, the curriculum is called "Footprints on our land" and is a great south African homeschooling material. We need a total of 650 gb pounds. That will give us everything that we need for the school year.

Please if you can help us with this drop me and email at vashti@projecto.org.za

Thank you so much.

Friends on the farm.

2011-03-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Jesse, clothes inside out and back to front!

Best buddies.

Islay.

Oh how I love Karen.

With our girls.

Gilby Skipp Morrall..........subject to change!!!

2011-03-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Durban Botanical Gardens.

2011-03-08T08:39:00.001-08:00

Wanna help us to help others?

2011-03-02T03:54:00.000-08:00

Hi there. We have had people express a desire to help us out as a family. Many of you know the work that we do here in South Africa. For those that don't please drop by our website and have a look.

As a family we live by faith! That means that we do not take a wage from Project O but rely on donations from others. This can be quite stressful at times as some months we do not know if we will receive enough to keep going.
We have a number of faithful monthly donors that are such a blessing to us but we are looking for some more individuals, families, churches and businesses that would like to help us to continue the work that we do here with the orphans of Kwa Zulu Natal.

If you believe that this is something that you would like to commit to then please click on our donate button and send us a gift. EVERY penny counts.

To those of you who already support us as a family, we love and appreciate you very much and without you we would not be here caring for these beautiful children.

Thank you for you love and support.

Martin, Vashti, Cindy, Joe and Jesse. xx

From Africa with love........LOTS of it!

2011-03-02T00:49:00.000-08:00

Helloooooo. I have just updated our family prayer blog. Please pop on over have a look and see how you can help us to help others.
Love you! x

No thanks.

2011-02-28T23:56:00.000-08:00

This was in the office! Remind me again why I live in Africa?!

Rita update.

2011-02-28T23:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know if any of you remember this post ,go read it now and then come back here, I'll wait for you.....go on hurry up..........

Ok did you read it?

Good! Well last week I had a phone call from Rita. She is in Maputo, Mozambique. She sounds AMAZING! She is now working for a taxi company, is on her ARV's and is doing really well.

Her CD4 count has gone from 140 to 400 thanks to the medication and it is continuing to rise.

We talked for while and she told me how she loved me and how I had saved her life. That was so humbling. I just did what I needed to do. I refused to give up on her. And now she is alive and well. I still don't know why God chose me to be the one to help Rita. I know that I was not the best choice, I probably wasn't even his first choice, but I was willing and determined.

Sometimes I think that that is all He requires of us. Obedience. What is he asking you to do? I know He is asking you to do something. It might take sacrifice and pain on your part. It might break your heart or it might save another. Whatever it is, like Nike says....."just do it"!

I am no different to you. Infact if you really knew me you would wonder why God bothers with me! I'm human after all. But I have decided what ever it costs I WILL help and love other unconditionally.

There are 100's of other girls like Rita in the Durban area and I really believe that God wants be to stand in the gap for them. If you would like to support me in this please send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

Thankyou. xx

I'm back........kinda.

2011-02-28T22:54:00.000-08:00

Well here I am! We now have internet in our farm office. It has taken months but hey this is Africa after all.

So much has happened over the past few months and there is no way that I can post everything. But I will touch on the highlights.

We are still loving farm life. I think I was born to live on a farm. I have chickens, ducks and a pig. I make things like jam and chutney, I bake every couple of days and I have taken up sewing!

Joe is now in grade R, Jesse is in preschool and we are going to be home schooling Cindy!( Just waiting for her materials to be sent through)

We have moved our Project O office to the farm also and let me tell you it is now a joy to sit in the office and work. As I sit here looking out of the window there is a gaggle of geese sitting outside the office, there is a troop of monkeys playing of the roof and it is so quiet and peaceful.

Project O is going well. we have had a huge over haul of staff and workers over the past few months and that was quite stressful at the time but now we can see that it was for the best and that God is really doing some sifting and refining here in the organization.

I took a trip to the UK in December to renew my visa and spend time with my family. While I was there I stayed with my sister who was VERY pregnant at the time. Since my return she has popped out a HUGE 11lb baby boy, who after 1 month still has no name!!!! The twins love him. My mum and dad have just been down there helping out and took loads of photos. It is times like these that I miss my family. Could really do with a snuggle with the baby.

Since my last post I have turned 34! I'm not sure how I feel about this. It seems old to me. I don't think I like getting old.

Dunno what else to tell you so here are a few photos from the past few months............

The baby.

Milo

Luna

Pretty dragon fly.

hiya!

2011-02-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

Hiya!!! Yes we are still alive! We still don't have internet on the farm but this week the Telcom guy showed up and installed a phone line!!! It has only taken 5 months! Welcome to Africa.
So we are hoping that in the next couple of weeks we will have Internet up and running!!! YAHHHOOOOOOOOO!

I am at my friend Karen's house and thought I would make the most of it! Tonight I am going out with 3 of my girl friends to celebrate my 34th birthday.Not sure how I feel about being 34 but I know that I am excited about getting some girl time in.

So much has been happening over the past couple of months and when we get our Internet up I will do a nice long post for you to all read.

In the mean time....all is good, kids are back at school, we are starting to home school Cindy in the next two weeks and we have moved the Project O office to the farm.

Hope to fill you all in soon. xxx

It's gonna be a good one......

2010-12-17T02:51:00.000-08:00

This is my husband. I love him. We have been really struggling financially, I mean REALLY. We had pretty much decided that we wouldn't be doing gifts this year. Our family have got the kids some and a couple for mart and I but as far as us getting gifts for the kids and for each other it wasn't going to be happening this year. That was until today.
Mart is a skydiver. He had his own gear and decided that he would sell his stuff so that we could have a good Christmas this year!!! I am blown away by this. He loves his skydive gear just as much as I love my KitchenAid mixer! But this is a sacrifice that he was willing to make so that Cindy could have an awesome first ever family Christmas. So that we could bless each other and our friends. I am so excited about Christmas. And I am so thankful for my husband. He ROCKS!!!!!! ( and he is pretty hot!!)

Frosty.

2010-12-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

Home Sick.

2010-12-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

I am feeling homesick today. I am having a great time in the UK with my folks but I REALLY miss Mart and the kids. OK and the animals! ;-)

I ADORE this family.

2010-12-11T01:09:00.000-08:00

This is my best friend Steph and her family. They like to try and pop one out for each year that they are married ;-) I love you Steph. Kiss those babies for me.
xxxx

Puppy love.

2010-12-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Preston. He was my brother's puppy but proved too much of an energy bundle of Beagle to have in a London apartment so he now lives with my mum and dad. I love him.

Prom night and I am not there..........

2010-12-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

Tonight is Cindy's prom, and I am not there. I am very sad about this but am very thankful that I have amazing friends like Karen who stepped in and helped out. She took Cindy shopping and tonight she helped Cindy and her best friend Zama get ready for the prom. They look so great. Wish I was there!!

Twin time.

2010-12-08T01:54:00.000-08:00

I am spending a few days with these two and I am loving it! They are the funniest little girls I have ever met! Totally bonkers! I have spent most of my time laughing at them. I wish the rest of my tribe where here to spend time aswell.

Teenager love.

2010-12-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

I ADORE this child. At the moment I am in the UK on my own! On Wednesday Cindy has her prom and I wont be there, this makes me very sad. But thankfully Karen has stepped in and has had her for the weekend, took her out shopping for a dress and all the trimmings. Then today she has had her hair done and getting her nails done. I wish I was there to do this with her. But I know that Karen is loving every moment of it!!!

Just look at the cute hair, this is the first time that we have gone with curls and I really love it.

I also LOVE the poses! She is so funny. Oh how I ADORE this child. (and those are Aunty Karen's shoes, NOT Cindy's!!!)

New blog

2010-11-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

Hi, forgot to tell you that we have a new blog. It for those of you who want prayer requests and info on how you can support us as a family and help us to do the work that we do here in South Africa. Pop on over and have a look and leave me a comment.....I LOVE comments!

What am I reading?

2010-11-24T00:22:00.000-08:00

I am in love with this book. I cant put it down. It is inspiring me and my little farm patch and is challenging me to look at what we are eating and the impact that our choices have on this earth. I HIGHLY recommend it!

Joe is 5!

2010-11-09T06:05:00.000-08:00

Joe turned 5 last week! I really don't know where the past 5 years have gone! We had a BBQ with friends to celebrate and it was wonderful. Kristy took some awesome photos and I wanted to share with you guys.

It's Toothbrush!

Boys being boys.

The birthday boy with his blue cake.

So pleased with his pumpkin.

Serious work.

OVERLOAD!

2010-10-20T00:52:00.000-07:00

This is how my brain feels like at the moment. OVER LOADED!

We have so much going on. I still don't have Internet at the farm. We are working on it! I only get the office once a week so I have neglected my blog and facebook and emails. But I have been having lots of fun on the farm and have not been able to take photos as in our move my charger vanished! UGH! SO now I am going to Karen's and will be borrowing her camera. YEY! So this time next week I should have some new photos to put up. I know you are excited!!!

Don't you just love this log pile?! I want one. Just thought I would let you know. See you soon, with new photos! xx

Primrose and Maggie Boo.

2010-10-12T04:47:00.000-07:00

My Wonderful Friend.

2010-10-12T04:19:00.000-07:00

This is Kristy. She is my friend and I love her so much. She is funny, beautiful and very talented. Yeah she makes me sick! She came to the farm to visit last week and bought her camera. I thought that seeing as I haven't blogged for a long time (we still don't have Internet) that I would share some of her photos with you. Please stop by her blog and show her some love.

Luna

Boomerang

Draco

Neo

Toothbrush

Happy boys.

Milo

The Good Life.....

2010-09-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

Well we did it, we stepped out and moved to the farm! The property that we were staying on sold 2 weeks ago, alot faster than we thought it would. Last week we moved to the cottage and I don't remember the last time that I was this happy! I love it.

There is still alot of unpacking to do and we don't have anywhere to put clothes but we are getting there.

We do not know where the money for rent will come from, but we know that He does know.

The kids are loving every moment and have settled in really well.

We have 2 ducklings, Tonks and Draco, and are wanting to get a coop so that the boy's school can give us some chickens. I have been baking and making chutney like a trooper and love being a farm house wife.

The only draw back is that we have no Internet!!!! How am I coping? Surprisingly well actually! I like the fact that no one can get hold of me and disturb my peace and quiet!!!

Here are a couple of photos, I will put some up to date ones as soon as I locate my camera charger!

4 years old today.

2010-09-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!

Last week.

2010-09-02T06:55:00.001-07:00

Last week I posted THIS. I said that when it all blew over I would share with you what has been going on. Well it has pretty much come to an end and I wanted to share the trials that we have been facing.

We have a number of staff working for us and living on our property. It took us a long time(years) to get to the point where we thought that we had a strong core group of staff that we could trust and who had a heart for the work that we do here at Project O. Sadly we were very much mistaken!

Last week I found out some thing that I had been fearing for a while but had no proof of. A handful of our staff were stealing. And have been for at least 2 years.
Finding this out really broke my heart as two of these people I really counted as part of our family and I really trusted them 100%. How wrong can one person be?

It really hurt to find out that we had been taken for a ride, and it was a convincing one at that. But what hurt WAY more than having my things stolen was the fact that the same people stole ALL of Cindy's clothes! This is what really broke my heart.
Some of you know Cindy's story but for those that do not, Cindy is one of the AIDS orphans that we support through Project O. She came to live with us a couple of years ago so that she could attend a good school and now she has become a member of our family. We love her so much and knowing that these people that she also trusted could do something like this to her kills me.

I was sharing with Danae what had happened and she and hubby Steve who are very good friends of ours and who know and love Cindy decided to send some money over so that we could go shopping for some new things for Cind! What a HUGE blessing Danae and Steve are.
Cindy and I took off today and hit the mall, BIG style. We shopped till we dropped and had so much fun.
She came away with clothes, shoes, Books, DVDs and MAKEUP!!!!! Yep that's her 1st makeup and the lady in the Mac store did her up for free, she looked adorable.

I am learning that bad things happen and when they do I need to see them for what they are and forgive. It's not easy but if you do God will bless you so much. Cindy forgave these people for taking her things and now look how cute she looks!!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers last week. We love and appreciate you guys for standing in the gap for us.

He just can't help himself.

2010-09-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

Milo has paper and box issues. When there is paper or boxes around he just has to get involved! He loves Christmas day, all the wrapping paper drives him wild. Forget cat nip, all this tabby needs is an old box.......HEAVEN!

A day at the market.

2010-08-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

In Faith.......

2010-08-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

So some of you will know the situation that we are in right now others do not and for the latter I wanted to share with you what is going on in the Downs family life. The house that we live in and run Project O from has been put on the market. We do not have the money to buy it and so will have to move out when it gets sold.

This has been a little bit stressful for us as a family. We are still living by faith and on the kind donations of family and friends. We have not had to pay rent for this home and this has been a HUGE blessing for us. Now we are looking to move out and we are wondering where the rent money is going to come from. At the moment we just get by on the funding that we have, when we move out and rent some where we will have to find the money to cover our rent.

We know that God has it all under control and He has put a place on our hearts to move into. We found this farm last year and it has been on the market for years. There is a main farm house and 5 cottages, along with many out buildings and workshops. At the moment there are a few people living on the property, renting the main house and some of the cottages. We are planning on renting the biggest of the cottages for our family.
It is an amazing property and we would really love to buy it for the ministry and for us as a family.

The main reason why we want to live somewhere like this is so that we have space as a family. So far we have been living in the same building as the Project O offices and in the same building as all our visitors and volunteers. This really takes a toll on us as a couple and as a family.

We NEED our own space, I NEED my own space. If we went to the farm we would have that much needed space.

Our hearts are really at peace about this farm and we know that God is doing something in all of this. I want to move right now, this instant! I am in love with the place. I feel the peace of God there. It feels right. When my parents were over we took them there and they said they felt the same, that was really encouraging for us.

At the moment to only thing that is stopping us from moving into the cottage is the lack of funds. We need about 500 UK pounds a month to cover the rent and bills. We just don't have that income right now.

So in this post what I am asking is that you join us in prayer. That if this is God's will for our family then He will provide us with the money to make this much needed move.
I have added a few photos to give you an idea of the place. Our cottage will need some work but that excites me! Weird I know!

Please join your faith with ours. Thank you. x

This is our cottage. The back door leading on to the kitchen.

This is the front door.

Part of our garden, there are Pine trees everywhere, that makes me happy.
The view up the driveway.

The view from the main house.

This made me happy.

2010-08-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

This has just made my day!

It's just not good.

2010-08-26T00:22:00.000-07:00

We have had a really bad couple of days and things are going to get alot worse before they get any better. I will post it all when it is over but please pray for us as a family and as a ministry. Pray for my heart as it has been broken. I am holding on to something that John Piper wrote.

" When you take a breath and exhale in sobs, fall against the chest of Jesus. He will hold you until you can breathe again."

Thank you for your prayers.

ps. no one has died and don't worry nothing has happened to us as a family! Love you all. xx

Friend Makin Monday.......its back!

2010-08-23T05:25:00.000-07:00

Today is Monday and Amber is giving us a chance to make some friends. If you want to join in pop on over to Amber's and sign up.

All we have to do today is write some things that we are doing today....does that make sense??

OK here we go.......

TODAY....I have been married to Martin for 7 years.

TODAY....The kids are home because the schools are on strike.

TODAY....I crashed on the bed with the kids and watched Nanny McFee, we loved it!

TODAY....I should be baking but I am still in recovery from our VERY hectic weekend.

TODAY....I am really missing Steph and wondering if her baby will come today.

TODAY....Cindy is trying to convince me to watch Marley and Me with her...I don't think I can do it!

TODAY....I am thankful for my family.

7 years.

2010-08-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

Married 7 years August 23rd....no itch!

I love you Baby. xx

Family.

2010-08-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Funnest day out!

2010-08-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Joe.

Adia.

Ami.

Islay.

Jesse.

Shani.

Sanele.

I love my friends.

Welcome to the world.

2010-08-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hle and Sabelo had a baby girl yesterday. Her name is Makwande, meaning "bless us more" ie, give us more babies!!! Hahaha! I was with her for much of the labor but she ended up needing a C-section and so Sabelo was the only one who was allowed to stay. I wanted to take photos of the whole labor for Hle and Sabelo but she wasn't due till the end of next week and I hadn't charged my camera! UGH! So I went in to see her just now and snapped a few pics before getting told off by the sister in charge! Welcome to the world baby Makwande!

This made me chuckle......

2010-08-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I popped onto this website and put some of my writing into the box. Then It analyzed it. I write like Steven King.......REALLY???!!!!

I did chuckle at this!

I adore my children.

2010-08-02T04:26:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the Farmer's Market.

2010-08-02T01:42:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my favorite things.

2010-07-30T09:24:00.000-07:00

Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a Spider can.....

2010-07-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

My life at the moment is all about Spiderman. Ummm yeah I need a daughter!

All part of learning to mother African children.

2010-07-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

When you become a mother you take on all kinds of new rolls. one of these rolls is that of hair stylist! When you have an African daughter this roll takes on a whole new meaning. Afro hair is not easy to manage or maintain, it is HIGH maintenance! Cindy's hair is so slow growing and due to this we braid it. I usually get some one else to deal with it and pay them but this time around I decided to give it a go myself. We were both a little nervous but we got there in the end and she ended up with a full head of long braids! We started on the Thursday night taking her old braids out, I kept her home from school on Friday as she had half a head of new braids and the rest was all Afro (cant send an African girl out in public with half a head of braids!) we finally finished the whole head on Saturday afternoon!! My wrists and hands were very sore but we had a great girl bonding time together. We watched movies the whole time. New Moon, You've got mail, and 3 Harry Potter movies. It was great and she looks so pretty with her new hair.

Here Fishy Fishy..........

2010-07-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

Every year millions of sardines swim up the South African coast line to warmer waters. They pass through Durban beaches and this past weekend we had the amazing opportunity of seeing them. There were hundreds of people on the beach with drift nets collecting sardines to sell and to take home and BBQ. of course we had to get in on the action and came away with thirty sardines. YUMMY!

People were going in in their underwear with laundry baskets.......

using Easter baskets......

going crazy......

all for these little blue and silver fish.....

Quick peek.

2010-07-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Thought I would share the link for our Project O blog. Pop on over and have a quick peek at what we have been up to!

2010-07-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

This is my kitchen. I love my kitchen. We might have to move. I will miss my kitchen.

That is chutney. I made it a while back and have lost the recipe......Mum please send it to me. x

Addiction.

2010-07-14T06:27:00.001-07:00

So I have come to the conclusion that I have an addictive streak to my personality. Thankfully I never got involved with hard drugs! But as of today I think I might have discovered something just as dangerous and as addictive as crack! It is these.......

No not Milo....although I am very much in love with him, it is the bag of Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee bits! OH MY HAT! They are off the hook! I love them. I am in the middle of baking these and I thought why not put the toffee in them instead of chocolate chips? Well I opened the bag with the good intentions of dumping a load into the cupcake mix but paused to taste one. That was the point of my demise! Yep I'm hooked. none went into the cupcakes I used white chocolate chips instead. I am just so sad that when in Florida I only got one bag of these babies. So if any of my Stateside friends want to help me feed my addiction just let me know!

Love you!!!!

2010-07-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

Islay's Bithday.

2010-07-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

Last week it was Lady Islay's 3rd birthday. Karen asked me to bake cupcakes, so I did! We had a great day and Islay loved every moment.

Karen and her newest baby girl, Adia, it's true love!

Sanele and Jesse, best buddies.

Hello Kitty.

Not sure what is going on with my face but this was pre-shower and makeup....thats my excuse and I am sticking to it!

Joe and Sanele having some quiet time.

Missing Moz....

2010-07-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

I am missing Mozambique.....alot! I was sitting on my computer looking through photos and found some of the ones I took in Moz. Thought I would share them with you. hope you like them.

Love my friends.

2010-07-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Whats up Cupcake?

2010-07-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

I love cupcakes, I love baking them and eating them. And I love my friend Danae. When she came to visit a few weeks ago she bought me this amazing gift. It is a little case full of cupcake cases, sprinkles, piping bag and nozzles. Look how pretty it is!

2010-07-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

I love her.

2010-06-29T03:30:00.000-07:00