Prayer for Team Mali

Dancing Village People

Lynn, our South Puget Sound Chapter member of Team Mali, writes about the above picture: 
"Village people dancing along behind us after greeting us with a royal reception. About 500-600 in this village, where all the kids go to school and they have water."

 

Let's remember Team Mali today as they are into day five of their ten day trip.  Below are two of the requests that Lynn posted previously on our blog :

• Pray for the hearts of the women on this trip, that they will be broken but not crushed.
• Pray that this team can give and receive joy with the dear women, children, and staff in Mali with whom they come in contact, and, that sensitivity and understanding in this Muslim culture will occur.

 

 

 

 

Prayer for Team Mali

Team Mali

Pray for Team Mali today as they depart from Paris for Mali.  Pray for safety on ground travel. The team routes and debriefs in Paris, where terror threats have been high in recent weeks so the team will not use the underground transportation systems. Also, ground travel in Africa can be quite treacherous so pray for their drivers.

Pray for strength, stamina and unity for the team of ladies who have come from around the US to travel together to learn about World Vision water projects and transformational developments.

Remember this team over the next ten days.

Praise for Team Mongolia's Safe Return Home

Our very own Patty in Mongolia

                                                                                             

Praise for Answered Prayers
Thank you for praying for our Team Mongolia.  They have returned safely, except for Sandy who is still traveling.  God blessed them with an incredible journey that touched their hearts as they touched the hearts of others.

October 18, 2010
The camels started howling (or whatever camels do) yesterday when we climbed aboard, but they eventually cooperated and lumbered across the plain to give us another taste of the nomadic life. When I asked the Mongolian herder to make them stop so I could take a picture of Kay behind me (we rode in two's), he handed me the reigns to both our camels and offered to take the photo for me. Well, we've never been trusted to guide our own camels before! We don't speak their language. I threw Kay her own reigns not wanting to be responsible for both of us, and as I feared they took advantage of us and decided to make a bee line to home. We tried every Mongolian word we know (all two of them!) and tried our English as well, but to no avail. In the end we laughed and enjoyed the bumpy trotting journey, feeling free and out of control -- actually a good metaphor for a vision trip in general.

That was our morning in Mongolia yesterday. In the evening we joined Cornerstone Church for worship. It was an international church, and we enjoyed singing familiar hymns in our own language. Marilee was the guest speaker and she was amazing. She has her father's gift. Many people were very touched by her message, including myself. This morning she will speak again in World Vision's chapel time.

We've had an amazing week here in Mongolia. We give such thanks and appreciation to the very dear World Vision staff who have sacrificed time with their families to spend time with us.
This is our last day here and we are sad to say good-by to our Mongolian friends, but we are excited to see all of you again.

Thanks for your prayers. We have felt them.
Sandy

Find more pictures from the trip here within the next few days.

Prayer for Team Mali

 

 Team Mali

 One of our Chapter leaders, Lynn A., will depart today for a Vision Trip to Mali, Africa. Eight women will spend 10 days together - all of them Women of Vision chapter members - from around the country. This trip is being led by Angela Mason, Senior Advisor for Women of Vision.

The focus of the trip is to view water projects, and to visit villages in various stages of the transformational development process.

Highlights of the trip will include:
•Visits with sponsored children, one of whom is Lynn's child - 12 year old Safi
•Meeting with several groups of women, some of whom are shea butter or soap makers
•Visiting several water boreholes, with at least one doing live drilling
•Hearing / seeing the challenges of children with trachoma, malaria and parasites, including a visit to a school for blind children



Please Pray as follows:

•Safety in flight. Each member of the team travels independently to France, some leaving on October 19th, and others on October 20th. They fly from France to Mali on October 22nd, and back to Paris on October 29th - and each make their way back to the U.S. on separate flights over the following days.

•Safety on ground travel. The team routes and debriefs in Paris, where terror threats have been high in recent weeks. The team will not use the underground transportation systems. Also, ground travel in Africa can be quite treacherous so pray for their drivers.

•Pray for the hearts of the women on this trip, that they will be broken but not crushed.

•Pray that this team can give and receive joy with the dear women, children, and staff in Mali with whom they come in contact, and, that sensitivity and understanding in this Muslim culture will occur.

Prayer for Team Mongolia

Team Mongolia

October 16, 2010

Greetings from Mongolia,

Spending a night in a ger has connected us with the Mongolian people in a way nothing else can. The vast countryside, the big blue sky, the amazing stars, the warmth of a blazing fire inside a cozy ger -- all of this is exactly the same as it was for these nomadic people a thousand years ago. Some things have not changed. We return with a deeper understanding and compassion for the challenging life here.

Back in the city today, we were treated to a concert by The Children of the Blue Sky Choir. These 30 children are all part of World Vision's programs, and they have changed the way everyone here feels about the potential of "street kids". Their performance was enchanting. We smiled all the way through, with a few tears in our eyes -- happy tears for the lives moving forward after overcoming such incredible challenges.

A group of university students met with us later this afternoon and filled us with hope as they shared their hearts for helping the children of their country. They are a group started by World Vision to build leadership in young people of all ages.

Thanks for following our story!
Sandy

Sunday the 17th they will attend a church service; Monday the 18th spend time with WV Mongolia staff before they depart for home, stopping overnight in Korea enroute. Arrive back in Seattle Tuesday, October 19.

Prayer
Pray that the ladies will continue with stamina and good health and that things here at home are going well for each of their families.  Pray that as they travel that they will be a blessing to each other and to those that they meet and that God will use them mightily to spread His Good News.  Thank the Lord for this incredible trip for these women!  Ask Him to bless their travels as they return to Korea and then on to home.

Action Step
 Read emails at http://www.cwwov.org/projects/72-2007-mongolia-trip-report.html

Prayer for Team Mongolia

 Team Mongolia

October 14, 2010

Hi Friends,
Today felt like a week -- we saw and experienced so many wonders in this beautiful country. After making time after breakfast to start our day with devotions and prayer, we journeyed out of the city, past the poor ger neighborhoods, and into a new phenom here in UB -- single family housing development Mongolia style! Many people are choosing to move out of the city because of a growing air pollution problem. It was a lovely area with forested hillsides and new houses of assorted styles and sizes. We were just pointing out our window to say "Look at that beautiful home," when we turned into its drive and arrived at World Vision's Light House for children ages 2 to 6. The 4-story brick mansion was built by a Korean church and is run by World Vision. The "Rodem House" serves children who have been found in the city and have no family that can take care of them at this time. They were adorable. They greeted us with singing and dancing. We've never seen a more charming performance.

From there we traveled back to the city and toured the government detention center where men and women and children charged with breaking the law are held waiting for a court date. World Vision is working with the children there to assure their rights and situation as children are considered. As Debi mentioned yesterday, wherever WV is serving the children are showered with love and nurturing care. After touring the facility and meeting some of the boys, we had lunch there in the staff dining room with the director of the detention center and a time to ask him questions.

From there, we had the special opportunity to have lunch (again!) with the World Vision Mongolia country director, Vince Edwards and another new staff person Diana. Vince arrived here 8 weeks ago from his last placement in Bangladesh. We were impressed with his heart for kids and his new home. We are sure he is going to do a great job.

From there we visited a an informal education program. This was a program started by World Vision to help dropouts catch up in school. Now the government is carrying this work forward. World Vision is only involved in helping with providing some supplies and training. We applaud this as great progress as the government is growing and able to take on more and more of the development work themselves.

A few days ago we asked about a new WV project here addressing human trafficking. The WV staff responded to our interest by arranging a meeting for us with the Mongolian Police Agency who shared their program with us and told us stories of how they are using a new network to rescue girls and boys before they are trapped. We were very encouraged with their efforts.

And if that weren't enough of a day, we enjoyed a performance of traditional Mongolian dance, throat singing, music, and contortions -- all with beautiful costumes. And the WV staff, knowing we wanted to do a little shopping took us to the State Dept. Store. Back at the hotel at 7:30, exhausted, we have just finished dinner.

Whew! Quite a day.. If there was a theme for the day -- it would be transformation and trust. World Vision's work is transforming the landscape here, especially the lives of the children. At the same time World Vision is gaining the trust of the community and the government, which is opening doors to do more and more transformational work.

Every place we go, we tell those we meet that we are representing many women and friends back home who pray for and support their work. They ask us to extend their gratitude to you.

Good night from Mongolia,
Sandy

Prayer

Ask the Lord to strengthen the ladies after a wonderfully exhausting day! Praise Him that they are able to see first hand the incredible work of World Vision.  Remember to pray for the staff in Mongolia that God would bless them with wisdom, encouragement and joy.  Ask Him to continue to go before the ladies and keep them in His care.

Update and Prayer for Team Mongolia

Team Mongolia

Here is an email that we received from the team written on October 11, 2010.

Dear friends,

In this prosperous city of 11 million people we have had the unique opportunity to celebrate the dramatic transformation that has taken place during the past 60 years here since the end of the war and the beginning of World Vision. South Korea is indeed World Vision's most impressive success story. For 40 years they received support from World Vision and others to rebuild their country. During the past 20 years, they have grown to become one of the strongest donor countries in the WV family. However, their hearts are heavy for their friends and family in North Korea who still suffer in poverty, and they urge all of us to remember to pray for the children and families there and to use our advocacy efforts to bring change.

We met this morning with a group of women from many different churches in Seoul and the surrounding areas who were interested in learning more about Women of Vision. They were curious about who we are, what we do, and how we do it. It was a wonderful 2 hours of sharing. They ended by expressing their desire to continue the exchange. We met some fabulous women -- we know they will be amazing women of vision..

This afternoon was "the big celebration" of World Vision's 60 years. The program was a line-up of interesting reflections and enthusiastic congratulations -- looking back and looking forward. A highlight was an outstanding performance by the Korean Children's Choir. The hospitality we have received from the World Vision Korea staff has been remarkable. I feel like I'm an impostor -- taking the place of someone very important! We've met World Vision staff from Albania, Malaysia, India -- and many more countries. Each one has such an interesting story. This experience has been so much richer than I ever imagined.

We are packing this evening and will fly to Mongolia tomorrow evening. Our next update will come from the land of the Blue Sky!
Sandy

Today they arrive in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. They will spend the next four days visiting various children centers where children in crisis are being cared for in various ways.

Prayer

Praise the Lord for His Hand being upon them and giving them safe travels, exhilarating experiences and opportunities to minister to others in His Name.

Pray for continued safety and that they will bring hope to these children in the various centers where they will visit.  Ask the Lord to to bless them with health and strength for the journey.  Pray that all is well in each of their homes as they are away.