JUNE 2018 – SUMMER 2018 UPDATE
Beth and I are having an extended stay in the USA to deal with some medical issues. Soon after we arrived from South Africa, Beth fell down our basement stairs sustaining a concussion and fracture of the 7th vertebrae in her neck. Just this week her neurosurgeon released her to drive and stop wearing the hard-cervical collar. Just a week after she fell, I had surgery for total replacement of my right shoulder. It has been an interesting 6 weeks, but fortunately we are both back at about 90% normal and thankful to be alive and relatively pain free. We both hope to get out on the bike trails soon and enjoy this beautiful season in Iowa.
Reports from South Africa are good. We will be hosting 3 short-term mission teams in June and July. We look forward to seeing their stories and photos on social media over the next couple of months. We will also be hosting 2 nurses from Grandview University, 2 medical students from the University of Iowa, and an undergraduate student from the University of Northern Iowa. Hopefully, these young professionals will be able to help us fine tune our data collection program to document how much the children we are serving there are benefiting from our programs. We are building new toilets in many of the rural schools in South Africa to replace the dangerous, disgusting pit toilets. We had a successful spring gala in April, so our programs are going into the year well-funded.
Please be watching for the Hy-Vee commercial focusing on their One Step program that has funded a good portion of our water projects in Africa. We will soon be completing our 20th rural school water project.
In June, I will be heading to Toronto to the International Rotary Convention to gather additional support for our food insecurity program, especially focusing on teaching African children an appreciation for agriculture.
This is the first summer in many years that I have not spent most of my time in South Africa. I am hoping to put lots of miles on my bike, riding the Iowa bike trails. I will also be completing the rehabilitation for my shoulder replacement.
Beth and I appreciate everyone’s prayers and support as we continue to recover from our medical issues. She will be heading back to SA June 28th to work with our last 2 teams this summer.