Away we go!

All right, folks, I'm off to Africa. See you in 10 days.
Check instagram @wsnoell for photo updates.

Where is White River?

That's really the most common question I get. Luckily, most of my friends are geographically savvy enough to know where South Africa is because you know, it's in Africa, and it's in the south. So, there's that. But when it comes to White River, folks really want to know where it is. I've taken 4 screenshots of Google Maps showing the location of Ten Thousand Homes down to the basic setup of the local campus. See if these help at all:

If I can take a moment to stretch a metaphor and make the kind of tortured segue lots of preachers (not my local pastor, obviously) make, location isn't just about GPS coordinates and what Google Maps can show. What really matters, when the map is focused in as far as it will go, is home. Home is where we live and work and play and build relationships. Sure, we travel (to South Africa in my case) and have special experiences that lead us closer to an understanding of ourselves and God, but we live at home and it is the place with which we are most familiar.

Sitting in this chair in this house with this blog open, I'm comfortable and working and I know there are people who care for me, care about me. Those whom we will serve don't necessarily have those things. From the "Our Story" page of the Ten Thousand Homes website, the founders started assisting orphans in the best way they knew how--building houses. Quickly, however they realized "home is so much more than four walls and a roof [and] began to create home by building and supporting community care centers."

That's more home than a house. I like that. Jesus likes that.

There are photos like this:

But there are also photos like this: 

It's much more easy to raise funds for the former than the latter. We (especially Americans) want something we can touch and point to and say, "I did that. We did that. We built that house. Look at what we have done." Mostly, there's nothing wrong with that. Mostly, it's an awesome thing to provide for the physical needs of such a vulnerable population. Ten Thousand Homes does that in multiple ways. There are the brick and mortar homes. There are feeding centers. There is jobs training. The physical and the spiritual are inextricably linked, but let us not focus on the physical and neglect the spiritual. Let us not focus on brick and mortar to the exclusion of hearts and minds (if that conjures a foreign policy connotation, I apologize for not knowing a better way to express myself). 

"Us" is an easy for for me to say. It helps to avoid using "me." Going forward, with one week left to raise funds, my prayer is not for us, or for you exclusively. All pronouns are welcome. But I want my heart and hands to do the right work in the right way for the right reason. 

Join me. Join the team. When you do, you don't have to pray for "those going" or "them." You're part of it, too. Use "us." Use "we." Pray that we would all be one in mission, the mission to love on the unloved and to support those already on the ground building relationships every day, earning the right to express the love of Christ.

www.gofundme.com/stevenoell

Unless otherwise noted, photos are courtesy of Ten Thousand Homes.

Details and Typhoid Fever

Details I have; typhoid fever I don't. I did, however, get a vaccine for typhoid today. The resulting sore shoulder is a reminder of what's coming, of the journey to White River, of the relationships we can build and the difference we can make in continuing the great works of Ten Thousand Homes.

As if I need a reminder. As commitments for prayer are flowing in, the gofundme site is being shared, and financial resources are committed, it's enough to overwhelm a fella. I'm not quite overwhelmed, though. I have a great team going with me and a great team here at home. Most of all, I have a glorious Father in Heaven inhabiting the praises rising for the kingdom work being done.

We got an email update yesterday from our contact in South Africa with a huge list of the things we'll be doing. Below is a list of some of those things, but keep in mind the words of our contact: "this is Africa and we must hold all our plans loosely."

• Cooking and feeding
• Construction
• Home repairs/maintenance
• Hospital visits
• Home visits
• After-school programs
• Sharing meals and having tea, encouraging vulnerable women and children

If you didn't catch yesterday's Facebook post, there are two coming opportunities to have some fun, eat some good food, and contribute to the cause. 

Monday, April 28, from 5:00 p..m -- 8:00 p.m. is South Africa Night at Chick-fil-a Towne Creek Commons in Salisbury. Just mention the South Africa team and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the cause.

Friday, May 2, from 6:30 p.m. -- 9:30 p.m. is the first ever Salisbury Scavenger Safari! Ever wanted to race around team solving puzzles and finding treasure? Contact at Caleb Efird for details. It's $80/team of four, and the prizes are pretty cool.

I honor all of you who have already taken the opportunity to get involved and encourage you and everyone else to keep sharing and praying.

Check out the gofundme site for ways to contribute.

Have a great week, y'all!

More about Ten Thousand Homes

                                                                                   Photos courtesy Ten Thousand Homes
Founded in 2008, Ten Thousand Homes (TTH) is nothing more than a movement of ordinary people making a tangible difference in the lives of children and families in South Africa. As simple as that may sound, it is mere truth and every day, TTH is building not just physical homes for the most vulnerable among us, but building hope and belonging in their hearts. Ten Thousand Homes has a great website, and visiting there will provide all the information anyone needs to understand their mission, their plans, and the worthiness of their cause. Below is a quote from the TTH website, and there's no reason for me to rewrite it:

Ten Thousand Homes creates “HOME” for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa by sponsoring community care centers, building houses, and providing a sense of belonging for these orphans and other vulnerable children. Ten Thousand Homes brings “HOPE” by providing them with quality training, education, and economic opportunities.

Ten Thousand Homes is a movement of ordinary people actively building HOPE and creating HOMES for Africa’s orphans and vulnerable children. Building houses is the easy part. Building HOPE and creating HOME for 10,000 children … that is altogether different. Help our ministry create the physical space that will allow Africa’s children to do more than simply survive!

The more I read on their website, the more inspired I am. Seriously, stop reading this blog and see what they have to offer. Here's another excerpt and invitation to experience:

The mission of Ten Thousand Homes is based on the principles of “HOME.” We recognize that homes are the backbone of a strong community. For orphans and vulnerable children, the nurturing and stability found in a home is especially critical. Providing Home is more than putting children in a house. It is creating that sense of belonging that everyone needs and desires. It is a truth we can all embrace-we all want to know that we are loved.

We are ordinary people stepping out of our ordinary lives to respond to the orphan crisis in Africa. Our dream is to see people from every walk of life working together to provide HOME for Africa’s orphans and to end the orphan crisis. This vision is too large for us alone; we believe that everyone has a role to play. We invite you to come see for yourself and experience both the beauty and the heartbreak in the communities we serve.

You see, TTH has a full-time staff. They're on the ground every day putting their own sweat equity into people's lives, investing of themselves to build others. Smartly realizing that contributing to a solution for a problem as large as orphaned children in an environment where life is difficult enough for children living with two parents, TTH invites us all to join them, to work side by side. It's not an effort to pass work onto others, but a generous offer of opportunity, a chance for others to be honored by serving in that capacity.  There is honor in service, of that there is no doubt.

A basic tenant of my faith is that it is greater to serve than to be served. I believe that almighty God humbled even himself to serve humankind. From Eugene H. Peterson's paraphrase of Jesus in Matthew chapter 20,

You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.

"Held hostage." That image should burn a hole in you. It does me. The children with whom we will be working are not bound and gagged; there is no ransom. They are hostages of circumstance. Left alone by parents who have passed on from AIDS or left with only an older sibling to make a life in an area already struck with poverty, they are bound by chains of missed opportunities and gagged by vulnerability. The ransom for them is our own lives, lives we give a little at a time to begin the release of hostages. In 10 days, our team will not solve the problem of AIDS, poverty, homelessness, hunger, or vulnerable children, but we can do our part and learn about the greater greatness of God's kingdom, yearning and crying out for hope and peace.

I'm going to be thinking of that last part for a while. Another post will follow soon, I hope. In the meantime, follow Ten Thousand Homes on their website, on Facebook, and Twitter.


  

Join Steve in South Africa. Never Leave Home

Friends, 


We have an awesome opportunity as partners to love on the children of AIDS-ravaged White River, South Africa. Through a sustainable, holistic, and effective movement of ordinary people called Ten Thousand Homes, a group from Salisbury is travelling to South Africa this June to work alongside them "building hope and creating homes for orphaned and vulnerable children."

I'll be part of that team on the ground in White River, and I hope you can be part of the team stateside. Journeying together, I'll keep you apprised of developments as the day of departure approaches and share great news of all the good work being done upon my arrival home. Most often, I'll use this blog as my primary means of communication for now, but I'll be expanding that soon. Your involvement is no less important or impactful than mine; we're a team.

To join us, I'm only asking for three things; contribute with one, two, or all three.  I'm asking for money, prayer, and publicity. The first one is easy to explain. Everybody knows plane tickets and room and board are never free. Feeding orphans, building their homes, and providing a loving space costs money. If giving financially is how you feel you can best contribute to the good work, give generously. No amount is too small or too big. The gofundme.com site won't crash if given 10,000 donations of $5 or a single donation of a million dollars (if I, however, receive a personal check for $1m, I may indeed crash). Consult your heart and your checkbook, and join this partnership. Feel free to cover the entire amount by yourself and free everyone's money to serve even more broadly. Your donation, if made through gofundme.com, is not tax deductible. It will, however, be used conscientiously and effectively. Your trust in me and your dedication to loving others are paramount. 

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I believe his love is mighty. I believe God cares for us all and wants to be glorified in all ways and in all things. If you're the praying type, I hope you will join this partnership on your knees, praying your fellow team members would be safe, that everyone we meet will experience tangible love, that Ten Thousand Homes would continue to flourish in a way that brings hope to children who have none, and that our God would lead the way, being glorified and receiving all gratitude for such an experience.  

The third way you can join is probably the simplest: Share. Share this blog and the gofundme.com link. There are buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and even Linkedin. If you don't have the money, and you're not a person who prays, just click the buttons; maybe someone, one of your friends even, wants to be involved and just hasn't seen the right chance to be part of a team like this.

There you go, three different ways to partner and love into the lives of orphans and children across the world. It is my wish each of you participate with all three, but you do have options.

As a side note, but an important one: trusting in the graciousness of God and the generous desires of my friends and family, I plan on raising more than the $2,000 dedicated to my part of the trip. With your permission, once that threshold has been met, the remaining funds will be distributed equally among other team members unable to raise the entire amount and then to the movement of Ten Thousand Homes. If you would like to earmark your donation for my expenses only, please let me know when you give.

One last thing, I promise: if you do not feel comfortable giving online, if that's not something you do regularly and sending a paper check makes you feel better, that's not a problem. Make your check payable to: High Rock Church, and put Steve Noell on the memo line.

Mailing address: High Rock Church - West
                         Attn: Pastor Chris Shelton
                         710 Jake Alexander Blvd W
                         Salisbury, NC 28147