Forgotten Voices' Mission:

"Demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ by equipping local churches in southern Africa to meet the physical & spiritual needs of children orphaned by AIDS in their communities."

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

21 Hours on the Road

Ryan arrived safely in Zimbabwe, but not without a few adventures along the way! This is Ryan's wife, Katie, writing. While he is traveling, we mostly communicate through brief text messages when he does not have internet access. He asked that I write a brief update for him, and he hopes to write a new, more thorough post this Friday.

Over two days, Ryan, Remmy and Fibion drove a total of 21 hours! Along the way the truck they rented to travel in Zambia was "sunk". As it was only a text message, I'm not sure if it was a mud pit or a small pond or what, but it took them four hours to get another vehicle to pull them out. As far as I know, the rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, but I am sure Ryan will have more stories about the drive. Driving that distance in Africa is typically a pretty bumpy road (both literally and figuratively!).

Ryan's messages have been both distressed and hopeful. He has seen an obvious decline in infrastructure, which especially has an impact on health, of those who are typically healthy, but especially of those with an already weakened immune system. However, they have also had the opportunity to visit some churches that Forgotten Voices has partnered with for a year or more, which Ryan said has been encouraging.

Please pray for Ryan's health, as he has had a mild virus for the past few days. He was able to get some medicine, but please keep him in your prayers.

I wish I had more to share, but texts do not leave much room for detail. Thank you for following Ryan's travels, and thank you for your prayers for his safety, the health and safety of our friends in Africa, and that this trip would be productive and valuable to the work that God is doing in Southern Africa.

Thanks!
Katie

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Katie-
This show on Speaking of Faith made me think of Ryan as he will be celebrating his Hero, Martin Luther King's, Birthday in Zimbabwe. I beleive so much of what Rabbi Heschel, shared with Dr. King, Ryan also shares and inspires all of us! To listen:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/heschel/

God bless. Are prayers are with you, Ryan and the people of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Joy Kauffman