At the Airport

Well here we are just about to board our plane to South Africa and then Swaziland. We are so excited and yet nervous at the same time. Unsure of what to expect out there and after all this is my first time in Africa! Were looking forward to sleeping on the plane and enjoy the wonderful food that it serves up. Thank you for your interest in following us. We will do all we can to update as often as we can. Well catch you soon! Lloyd x

Not what I wanted but what I needed

I came across this short thought as I was reading a Voice of the Martyrs book. It is so true

I asked for strength
And God gave me difficulties to make me strong

I asked for wisdom
And God gave me problems to solve

I asked for prosperity
And God gave me brain and brawn to work

I asked for courage
And God gave me dangers to overcome

I asked for love
And God gave me opportunities

I received nothing I wanted
I received everything i needed

My prayer has been answered

From the family of Michael Job an Indian martyr


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Not long now

Hi it's Jip. Hope this blog works ok and HELLO if you've found it!!  Thanks for checking in with us.  If we can get internet access in Swaziland then we'll be sharing our stories (& hopefully photos) each night.

For now, everything's packed - miracles!  Doesn't really feel like we're going tomorrow. I'm really excited for Lloyd now though - he's tucked up in bed probably with a belly full of excitement :-)
Will speak soon, love Jip

TIA

T.I.A. - "This is Africa"


TIA is a saying you hear a lot over here. I suppose it is a way to adjust your expectations to the African way of life. More accurately, I think it is the only explanation to the peculiarities and frustrations of this pseudo first-world city. Here are a few lessons learned:

1. Accounts Receivables is not a generally accepted practice here. Utilities are pre-paid! Power was inadvertently turned off
2. I am getting all sorts of grief claiming the Giants are the champions of the world, I mean, they won the World Series right!?
3. Ryan Seacrest is exclusively 'On Air' every night from 7:00-10:00pm... really Africa.
4. They drive on the left... I get into the passenger seat almost every time I go somewhere.
5. They call stop lights "robots" (yep, they are so far behind in technology to think that traffic lights are mechanical wonders) and you can do pretty much all your shopping from peddlers while waiting. Hey, you never know when you might need the day's paper, or a hammock, or a mirror.
6. "Now now" can refer to a time in the past or the future and "just now" refers to sometime in the near future but not necessarily immediate. So accomplishing a task now now means that it might already be done, or that you are going to get to it this afternoon, but potentially will not get to it until next month.
7. If you look around you would think the World Cup was starting next week. IT'S OVER, Spain won (Note: actual world champions).
8. The typical affirmative response here is, "Is it?"..... yes, it is, that's why I said it the first time!
9. Bribing cops is always appropriate. One could be piss drunk, smoking dope, not wearing a seat belt, while driving 150kph on the right side of the road and running robots...... that would be about $20.
   (I have yet to have a conversation on the topic where the word "safety" was used)
10. China is slang for friend, boytjie is slang for china, bru is slang for boytjie, and all these people are okes. Something bad is cock, something good is lekker, someone that is lekker is probably hundreds (100 percent).... and if you don't care about my vocabulary lesson then you give rocks (indifferent).
11. If someone says, "Africa time," then its probably not going to happen.

The Giants are the World Champions, it says so on the cover of The San Francisco Chronicle.

Are you looking for a gift that is UNIQUE ? 

personalized unique gifts that catch the cheerful and unforgetable moment for every event.

Yes! our MAGIC MUG is serving that your looking for.

The unique MAGIC MUGS makes your Birthdays, Wedding, Valentines, Christmas, New Year, Graduations, Farewell parties events or special occasion certainly unforgetable.

Put some magical spirit in your tea and coffee breaks with this unique magic photo mug.

Watch your favorite photo appear as if by magic when you poor a hot drink into the magic mug.

STEP1: The beginning = a black mug 

STEP 2: Add hot water 

STEP 3: Continue to add hot water

STEP 4: In the end-- your personally designed mug

You can send your own design, or
You can just send your pictures and I can create a design for you for free.

PRICE: 

        1 Magic Mug: P400

        3 Magic Mug: P1,050 save P150

Delivery Charge:
60 pesos within Butuan City
100 pesos Provinces

Payment:
Via Smart Money
Via Paypal
Via UnionBank
Via Western
For Butuan City: 
        2nd Floor Datalan Computer Shop, At the Back of Father    Saturnino Urios University and look for Christine Casing or Maro Legaspi. Contact us or text us ((085)225-8053 or 0919-582-0599) before going to the office to be sure that we are there. Thank you.

Meet up area:
Gaisano Mall for those who are in Butuan City Only
         Note: Handling Fee of 30 pesos for Meet ups.

FREE!!! if you go to our office to get the product
             2nd Floor Datalan Computer Shop, At the Back of Father    Saturnino Urios University.

Just contact me: Maro Legaspi

Contact No. 0919-582-0599 (smart)

                     0916-562-1326 (globe)

                  0933-121-5096 (sun)

Email add: marowenalegaspi@yahoo.com

facebook: mzanrujoe30@yahoo.com

Out of the hotel for good!

For the first time in two years, I will not stay in a hotel this week!


My new digs are in the Parkhurst neighborhood. I was set up with a friend of a friend (thank you Ross..) who had an extra room in his house; the place is fantastic. There are four of us that live here, Nic Van Zyl, his girlfriend Harriet Lowe, and Mike McLeod. Nic and Mike are both South African and have a great group of friends in Jo'burg. Harriet, a British, and Nic started dating at Oxford and she has been living in South Africa for a few months. Parkhurst is a fun and young neighborhood with lots of restaurants and shops. The weather is warming up here and the jacarandas are in full bloom... which has made for a great transition to Saffa and a more settled feeling.


Home sweet home...24 7th Street, Parkhurst, Johannesburg (24/7).

Home Sweet Home!

As you undoubtedly noticed, everything here is walled, and serious walls they are, complete with iron spikes on top and electrical wire above that. The front gate opens into common area with a pool and braai (BBQ).

Pool

Courtyard

Inside the main house are three bedrooms, a large common room, and nice kitchen. 

Living Room

Kitchen

I have an entire wing to myself. Behind the house is a guest cottage with a kitchenette, bedroom, bathroom, and small open space.

Guest House (my quarters)

We have alternated nights to cook. I think I reminded everyone of mexican food when I arrived and we have made a thing of burrito monday (with the makeshift mexican ingredients we can find). Mike is lazy and most likely defaults and grabs sushi at the local Kung-Fu Chinese/Japanese place where you can stuff yourself for less than ten US dollars. Harriet, the only proper cook on the lot, has made some delicious roasts and my lasagna was a hit (thanks mom!).

Dave Ohlerking's nuggets of wisdom

Share your strength. Save a child.

-Hope’s name is Jesus

-You can change a child’s life forever

-It’s about the children

-Once you go to Africa, you’ll go back in your mind every day for the rest of your life.

-Pray. Give. Go.

-If you don't hold onto something, you will let go of everything. What is there that you will refuse to let go of?

-The safest place to be is in God's will.

-Jesus said, "Go everywhere, tell everybody."

-When Jesus said, "Come," He meant all the way. When He said,"Go," He meant all the way.

-If we do not predetermine boundaries, how will we know when we've gone too far?

-The highest reach of our faith is to have faith IN Jesus rather than faith FOR what we want.

-You can hold more in an open hand than you can in a clenched fist.

-"Can I go home and live with you?" I have been asked this by many children in many countries. Something in me never stops crying.

-Advice to new missionaries: It will take a year on the field before you really see what you're looking at.

African pastor wishing to honor me said, "You may have white skin, but you have a black heart." I was honored.

-My ability to do God's will in my life is not subject to other people's decisions.

-Godly meekness is not weakness.Godly humility is not timidity.The strong resist unGodly desire to bluster and brag

-God spoke the world into existence. Is His Written Word any less powerful than His Spoken Word?

-Honesty goes both ways. It acknowledges both weakness and strength.

-If your future looks scary just remember God is already there and He ain't afraid.

-Sometimes the best use of power is not to use it.

-Imagine being an African child who doesn't have $1 worth of anything and then receiving a Tori Box full of school supplies and toys!

-God is bigger than any challenge you face.

-If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

-It is possible for believers to live in such a way it becomes natural to experience the supernatural.

-Being with caring, loving, giving Filipinos who live in poverty challenges my personal financial priorities, God bless them and forgive me.

-"We hours" of the morning again. Wonderful sense of the presence of God.

-Many cultures consider forgiveness to be weakness, but to forgive is to defeat evil by doing good.

-Like ears crave sound, and eyes crave light, my soul craves the presence of God.

-How would it feel to find out in Heaven you gave the dollar that won the last soul before the rapture?

-"Think it not strange" that every evil hell can muster is aimed at the followers of Christ. It's always been that way--but we win!

-One of our greatest thrills is watching our children and grandchildren sell out to Jesus. We are blessed!

-The highest reach of our faith is to have faith IN Jesus rather than faith FOR what we think is best for us to have.

-If I tear you down, and you tear me down, we both lose. If I build you up and you build me up, we both win.

-God has let me live long enough to have a memory full of awesome things He has let me see and do and be part of.

-As evil deepens and accelerates, so does God's grace and anointing.

-There is a place in Christ that can only be gained by totally losing one's self awareness. Why don't we go there?

-By definition lie (untruth) proves the existence truth. Truth's name is Jesus.

-Should our embarrassment to witness cost the untold one his soul?

-You will either sacrifice your present to your future or you will sacrifice your future to your present.

-Everything God does is redemptive. He does not waste our experiences--good or bad.

-Personal peace is one of the surest evidences of God's power in your life.

-God is incapable of doing wrong things

-I believe God just asked me, "What are you willing to let go of so a hurting child can live?"

-52 years ago today was the first time I kissed Jean! It was so good I'm gunna keep right on kissing her.

-To find God’s will, seek his presence.

-Touching the world from the heart of America

-Changing the world one child at a time

-Have you ever seen fever in the eyes of a child.

-Giving hope, inspiring dreams, changing worlds.

-Train up a child.

-"Hopeless children. Unwanted children. Diseased children. Unloved children. Raped children. Forgotten children. Enslaved children. Prostituted children. Abused children. Hungry children. JUST CHILDREN."

"I cannot walk away from the children."