Quick Update

Been driving back and forth yesterday and today. I have met again with Victor Nakah the president of TCZ, John Stamboli the vice president, Fibian Ndhlovu the pastor of the Free Methodist Church, Warren and Tezwin King assitant pastor of The Rock church. Now I am headed to a late tea with Bishop Danisa Ndhlovu bishop of the BICC. Quick prayer request: Today after meeting with Fibian one of his volunteer assistants Horace came rushing into the office, his father is severly ill at the moment and had to rush to the hospital. I offered to drive, so we set off. Pray for his recovery. That area in the western suburbs has it hard enough as it is. Tomorrow I am going to a local orphanage to spend some time with the kids and offer up my services for the day. God Bless.
Stephen

What I Have Been Doing

2 of 2 Updates Today

Here is what I have actually be doing. Since coming from Mtshabezi on Saturday I have been keeping myself pretty busy. The Anderson family (Paul, Syliva, 4 kids, Danielle, Emma, Scott, and Abby) have been kind to put me up for these past few days. They are a great family and are really just nice people who love to give of their time and their privacy. Down at Mtshabezi I had busted a tire so I was unable to go to church in the western suburbs which I had planned and told some of the leaders over there that I was going to be there. So on my spare I made it back to The Rock church. The service was good, and then a nice family the Thompson's invited me back to their house for Sunday lunch. After lunch I spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying time with the Andersons because I knew that I would have a busy week. We played Clue (or as they call it Cluedo for some reason, apparently in Britain and Zim it is Cluedo but I don't know what the bogusness is all about cause I know it as Clue, no do), and then we played football (a.k.a. soccer) outside. The kids went to bed and Paul, Sylvian and myself watched The Italian Job. It was pretty relaxing day I must say.

Monday consisted of me fixing the car, which took longer then anticpated, spending some time over at TCZed, interviewing the Andersons, making a ton of local phone calls to secure-in my week. Today I woke up at 6:30 for a morning meeting, and then headed back over to TCZed with a quick meeting with head of TCZ Victor Nakah, I spent some time with a frend, and then went over to an extremely interesting meeting with former Bishop of the BICC church in Zimbabwe Jake Shenk and his wife. I am taking this week to sort of fact-find for  a future FVI documentary, prepare for that accordingly, and also do interviews for some articles that I am writing for certain publications. Bishop Jake was great. He is extremely highly respected in this community. He speaks fluent Ndebele (the native tounge in the western part of Zimbabwe) and actually wrote there first ever dictionary. Jake, as you can probably tell from the name is an American man. He is in his 70s and has lived her for 50 years. He is a Messiah alum, and seems to just know Zimbabwe backwards and forwards. I was interested to learn that he has had many meetings with "His Excellency" President Mugabi himself. Jake has been a huge supporter of Forgotten Voices and is just a really interesting and engaging person. I am really glad that I got to spend some time with him today. Now I am heading out to interview two more people and I am excited to keep on learning about this interesting country and these interesting people.

I gotta go,
Stephen

The 24 Shoes

1 of 2 Updates Today.

I'm not really sure who reads this blog as I am fairly new to writing on it myself, but I want to take this first update and speak specifically about what my feelings are on Forgotten Voices International. Maybe some donors read this blog and they will be confirmed in there expectations, maybe some friends (non-doners) read this blog and they will be motivated to give, and maybe people just read cause they are friends/family with Ryan, and now myself I suppose.

There are huge N.G.O.'s that come in here to Southern Africa and make certain impacts, i.e. your World Visions, your food relief organizations, and there are people on opposing sides of the spectrum who would argue to the effectivness (in the long and short run) of these monster organizations. But FVI has got this niche, and it really carved out something wonderful and it has really started to make some serious in-roads to helping those who suffer around these parts. I see it with my own eyes now. It is life effecting. Not only my own life but more importantly those lives that FVI is specifically effecting.

You see, FVI has an interesting way of operating, a way that I believe (with my limited knowledge of other N.G.O.'s working around here) that it is more rare than commonplace. FVI's goal is not to come into a situation throw money at it and then run away. FVI does not take a 'holier than thou' attitude, meaning we are coming from the first world (the better world) and we are here to help you the third world (the lesser world). FVI does not take the assumption that we know more about a given community or a set of people then the people themselves. If FVI held any of these stances then they would be foolish and useless. The best thing about the make up of FVI is that they (as I have learned working immediatly with Ryan) engage themselves in conversations with the leaders of these certain communities, (1. The Free Methodist Church in the socially [very highly AIDS infected] and economically [extremely poor] deprived western suburbs, 2. The Mtshabezi National AIDS Mission/and Hospital, 3. Theological College of Zimbabwe [TCZed as the Zimbabweans call it], 4. Christian Leadership Resource Center [CLRC], 5. Plus more initiatives and plans in progress) find out what they deem the best practices - since they know their people and they know there country better then FVI, how presumptious of FVI would it be to think otherwise? - and then work cooperativly to see how they can help.

Finally, not to belabor this obvious point of how much I apprreciate FVI, a quick story that helps dramtically highlight why I respect FVI and its strong hold on its mission. The first time (a while ago now) that Ryan and I went to visit the Mtshabezi Mission we went out into the homesteads (as I believe has been reported by Ryan) with Gordin and Obert. But we first went to a local Mtshabezi primary school were FVI supports 12 of the orphans. The children had been walking and attending school for months without shoes. Part of this group of 12 were talked about in previous blogs, Shelton, Consillia, and Margaret. But Forgotten Voices supplied the money (thanks to donor efforts) to buy the 24 shoes for these 12 children in need, while the Mtshabezi mission purchased them and saw the necessity for these 12 children. The 24 shoes were in the back of our truck. Gordin had all of the kids line up in anticipation. Ryan and I retrieved the shoes from the truck and began to hand them to Gordin and Obert. Gordin and Obert waited for Ryan and myself to start handing out the shoes to the kids ourselves. Ryan quickly said 'no' to them, he made it clear that the point of this specifc project was for the leaders of this community to be the ones supplying the aid to these orphans in need. It was not about Ryan or myself or America with our five pairs of shoes each, sneakers, dress, sandles giving to these kids. It was about the community living to sustain. It would be easy for Ryan to take the credit, to hand out the shoes and see the smile on the kids faces and get that obligatory satisfaction; but he helped FVI hold to their mission. This was important for me to see, and I think it makes a strong statement.

Thanks for reading,
Stephen

Voice of America Interview

Friends - Ryan Keith here. I'm now safely back in the USA and just arrived back in PA for a few days before heading to Boston. As you may remember, I flew back from Africa and then to Chicago, finishing in Kentucky for a fundraiser for Forgotten Voices. It's been a wild ride and I'm obviously tired. Looking forward to much sleep.

Please continue to pray for Bozzo, as he is there for another week continuing his work.

On my drive back from Kentucky today, I was contacted by Voice of America, an international broadcast show that is paying special attention to Zimbabwe these days. They have quite a few listeners world-wide. They did a 20 minute interview and this was shortened to about 3 minutes in the editing room  You can read more about the interview and listen online here: http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/Zimbabwe/2007-05-28-voa29.cfm.

You may have to download RealPlayer. I couldn't find a way around that. If you know of a way, please let me know so I can pass this on to more people.

Many thanks for your attention and for praying! I am deeply thankful for this.

More tomorrow after I rest.

-Ryan

A Return To Mtshabezi

I find myself back in the wonderful rural village of Mtshabezi. I really wanted to come back down here after visiting with Ryan last week. The first time I came a week ago it was pretty tough. To better explain, the village of Mtshabezi consists of the national Aids Project headquarters, with the Mtshabezi hospital right next door, along with a school system, and local homesteads (people who live in the village). It is an all-together different experience then the city atmosphere of Bulawayo, both very interesting, just very different. Last time Ryan and I, accompanied by new head of operations at the Aids Project, Gordin, and his colleague Obert, went out into the homesteads to see some of the FVI orphans and also some of those on their death bed's living out there final days with their families instead of at the hospital. The first time everyone informed me of what we were going to do, but it doesn't really become real or effecting until you actually experience it all with your own eyes, and smell it with your own nose, and touch it with your own hands. Ryan can attest, it was quite hard for me. I think it would be hard for anyone the first time that one experiences something like that. I mean we can read about it back home, the few little blurbs about the disease at the bottom of BBC.com or in our national newspapers, but when you are there, it is just challenging. A lot of me was confused because I didn't know what to feel. And I certainly felt inadequate finding words to say to someone like Jessica (30 years old, mother of two, living at home in her last days, lacking ARV's, the ground as her bed, the flies and bugs crawling all over her), what could I say other then "God Bless" because how could I relate? How could I even try and find some sympathy for her? It almost felt wrong to do so, because in reality I can't even imagine.

 

With that said, as hard as it may have been for me the least I could do was show my face again and hopefully they will see in my face that I do some how care, that I do want to help in whatever way that I can, and that I was not just coming once and then leaving forever. So, once again, along with Gordin, Obert, and this time some friends Joel & Julianne Percy and her parents Bruce & Gale, we set out to the homesteads. We once again went to see Jessica and she looked the same but was saying she was feeling better, she seemed a bit more interactive and I also felt more interactive this time. I'm very glad that I went back.   Among seeing many others, we also went back to see three orphaned children whom Ryan has written about, Shelton and his sister Consillia and their cousin Margaret. Well, Consillia and Marget were nowhere to be found, but we did find Shelton. What a kid! Cute little guy, I believe 8 years of age (I'm unable to log on the internet and read what Ryan has written on the blog, I can only send to this blog from my email which is what I can sometimes get on to, ever so occasionally) and just full of life and energy. Kids are still kids wherever you are in the world, this is what Shelton has helped prove to me. He was wearing the shoes that you (the donors) helped provide him with (we gave them to him last time we visited here a week ago) and was running around playing with his friends.   Joel & Julianne popped him into their car and he seemed to be enamored with the horn (or the hoot as the Zimbo's call it). For a little over and hour we waited for Consillia and Margaret to return, and in that hour I played with Shelton. It was actually tons of fun. He loved playing with my camera, he didn't understand the concept of how the camera works yet, but he did love pressing the button and seeing the digital pictures pop up for the few seconds that it did. I will send the pictures to Ryan and I am sure that he will post them at some point. Consillia eventually came and Joel & Julianne gave them each some presents, which was nice.

 

A story that I unable to get out of my head these past 24 hours that I think should be told that is a tough write/read but I think a good way to show that the donor dollars are going to something important ( i.e. education). A young girl (5 years old), both parents having died from the disease, lives alone with her grandmother (a.k.a. Go-go). Her grandmother goes out during the day to work in a local house as a maid, and when the grandmother is gone the neighbor comes over. This neighbor, an older man, is infected of course. This 5 year old girl gets the disease. It is now the present day, the neighbor is in custody now, the girl is 10 and she is dying. Because of liver problems and stomach problems she can no longer eat any protein. Protein is important to anyone's body, but to a young girl dying from AIDS it is extremely important. She has been cleared to take ARV's, except this is such a strong drug that one needs tons of protein in the body to even take this drug. So the drug that can help sustain her she is unable to take (unfortunately this is not a stand alone case in regards to ARV taking, many ARV's have become available for patients except they cannot take them due to malnutrition.) The reason that I say this story is a good way to show that the donor dollars goes to something important is that, in regards to the neighbor and also many others who believe in this following misnomer, it is common around uneducated people here that if one is infected with the disease that a way to alleviate it is to sleep with a virgin who does not have the disease. How sad. How misinformed. If children could keep on learning the truth about this disease as they go through school cases like this could be avoided in greater numbers. My apologies for the perversity of the story, but for these people here it is life. It is happening to the person living in the hut next door, it is happening to your friend, it is happening as you walk the 2 hrs to work, it is happening to your family, your brother, sister, father, mother.

 

But that is the ugly side of Zimbabwe. There is also much more, a happier, lighter, more hopeful side. I feel that a lot of the optimistic side of Zimbabwe is found in the kind and gentle people. Zimbabweans are known for their hospitality, and they have certainly lived up to their billing. Richard Ndlovu, head administrator of the Aids Hospital here at Mtshabezi is a perfect example. Along with his wife Snow and young son Vuyo they have been supporting and helping out FVI for years now, feeding and providing a bed for whomever comes into town. Last night as he strummed his acoustic guitar and we sang old hymns and we sang local songs (Hakuna Waikaita) I was sent to my bed room laughing and smiling and just thankful for these kind people.

Life In the Third World

Ryan has left for home to see Katie and he has left me he all alone in Zimbabwe. Well, not really, I have made some nice friends. After dropping Ryan off I headed back into the city to get some errands done. I found myself out back in Magwagwe North where the Free Methodist Chuch is. I stopped by the house of Ronald (a volunteer helper at the church, Pastor Fibian is out of town visiting his parents) and we headed by the church. We ended up getting some money and going over to a school to pay 3 kids school fees. Just like that, not even planned, we were able to pay for 3 kids to go to school for the next semester. Awesome stuff. Tomorrow I will be heading back down to Mtshibasi to go and re visit some of the Aids orphans --- it is important to me that I go and see them a second time and not jsut be a one in and out type deal. And I will have time to meet and interview some of the leaders of the Mtshiabsi Aids mission. After a few days back there I will head back to Bulawayo with internet access where I can write more on FVI and what I am doing here. Thanks to Ryan for a great leg of the trip, it was fun spending time with him and learning the ropes here in Zimbabwe about what FVI is doing. In short, FVI is a great idea and a great organizations and very respected around these parts --- more to come later on that. Stephen.

--
Stephen Bozzo Jr.
(631) 371-9412
stephenbozzo@gmail.com

Death & New Life

Another quick post from me as I wait for my plane to depart South Africa for the USA.

This trip, I heard of the death of some friends here. This is always one of the hardest parts about coming and leaving. Every time I come back to my 2nd home, I hear of people that have died. And every time I leave, I go knowing that the next time I come back someone else will have passed away...I just don't know who.

500 people are dying everyday because of AIDS in Zimbabwe. Beneath those statistics are real people, with real stories. Every week, nearly 3,000 people. The stats are staggering. This creates about 1,000 new orphans every DAY, or 7,000 a week.

Something must be done. I'd love to raise about $200,000 during the 2nd half of this year to launch locally developed plans to assist these orphans in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Hlalani, about 30 years old, passed away on May 11th, the day before I departed for Zimbabwe. When I saw him this past February, he was caring for his elder brother who was dying of AIDS. Hlalani looked well, but his brother looked awful. AIDS is crazy like that. His brother is now teaching again in South Africa and Hlalani is suddenly dead.

On his death bed, Hlalani tried to give life instructions to his only child...age 3. She didn't understand his incoherrant thoughts. God bless him. Just before he passed, his old mother heard him crying out to God. She walked in to his room as he said Amen. Shortly after, he passed away, leaving his young daughter without a parent. The wife was gone, as well.

Fibion Ndlovu at the Free Methodist Church will work with Forgotten Voices to send this young one to school and help support the family with grief counseling, food support and other essentials. Volunteers in the church are already visiting the grandmother on a regular basis to see what can be assisted around the house.

By equipping local people with the resources they need to care for these orphans, we can make sure that these vulnerable children are not forgotten.

The sex trade, slavery, and child abuse of all types are on the rise in places like Zambia and Zimbabwe. The cold reality is these children are exploited if not cared for properly. Local leaders that we have identified know the right people and the right paths for these children.

Please pray for Hlalani's family as they mourn his loss. And for the Free Methodist Church and potential donors to Forgotten Voices as we look to partner with this grieving family...and this young child left behind by AIDS.

-------------------------------------------

I praise God for the fact that new life comes along as well each time I come. About 20 children were born this month at Mtshabezi. 3 close friends of mine will give birth to new life this year.

I praise God for the hope that is found in new life.

Owen and my Home

Friends,

My sincere apologies for the brevity of the posts from this trip. I know how many of you use this to help you pray for our travels. The internet has been spotty throughout and slow always.

I'm writing to you from the South African Airways lounge in Johannesburg, South Africa. The internet here is pretty quick, so I hope to post some pictures with this post.

I've now left Stephen in Bulawayo and am preparing to make the 18 hr flight through Senegal and onto Washington, DC. I'll then take 2 short flights to Kentucky, where I'll be reunited with my amazing fiancee, Katie, and others from the Forgotten Voices team. We have a fundraiser there this weekend. I hope to get a bite to eat, as airline food can sometimes make your stomach ache after you've been up there for so long.

Stephen will spend the day getting familiar with Bulawayo on his own and then proceeding out to The Rock church again to meet with Warren and James. Tomorrow, he'll rise VERY early in the morning to visit Mtshabezi for more home visits in the local villages. His internet access isn't going to be great the next few days, but I hope to help him by posting daily once I get back to the USA.

OK. On to the good stuf...

OWEN, Age 31, Nurse in London
I've written about Owen briefly today and late last week. But now that I have a computer, working internet, and the ability to post photos...

Owen, now 31, lives in London with his wife and 1 year old child We met outside a Pest Control business along Fife Street in Bulawayo, owned by a mutual friend of ours . Owen was in town visiting children he supports in the rural areas and checking in on his family, who still live around the Bulawayo area.

So, why am I blogging about Owen amidst all the amazing people I've met this trip?

Owen was once in Form 2, our equivalent of grade 10, at the Matopos Primary School. His family had no money for him to continue schooling. A smart guy, with a huge heart, his future was in the balance. Our mutual friend agreed to support Owen throughout the rest of his school days.

Little did our friend know how amazing this gift was. Because of a relatively small investment in USA terms ($200/year), Owen completed school and then went on to do his university studies. He is now a Nurse in London, UK and recently bought his first home. Owen now supports children he just recently met, after committing to give back to the community where he grew up.

Owen is a perfect example of what Forgotten Voices is trying to accomplish: equipping church leaders to empower orphans in southern Africa. As we waiting to fly from Zimbabwe to South Africa, we talked about Zimbabwe, his future, his family's future, and the future of the children he is assisting. He asked me to tell his story so you know how much a little can transform a life... from hopelessness to hope.

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I am sad to leave Zimbabwe. It is now my home. I always feel like I'm leaving a huge part of my heart behind when I leave this place. The work going on here in partnership with Forgotten Voices continues, as local leaders continue the good works. Our God has sustained them and helped them survive another day. Praise be to God.

-Ryan

Leaving Zim now. Just saw Owen: nurse in London from Zim. School fees paid for by a friend of mine. He was here helping kids.

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The time has come. 50 hrs from now, I'll be in Kentucky. Bozzo just left me at the Bulawayo airport. I'll write from Jburg, SA

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The time has come. 50 hrs from now, I'll be in Kentucky. Bozzo just left me at the Bulawayo airport. I'll write from Jburg, SA

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Travel Update from Ryan & Bozzo

Sorry for all the delays in our writing. We've been out in the rural areas and there hasn't been an email connection in 4 days. We've been all over now. After working in the Free Methodist Church for two days and paying school fees for about 30 children, we set out for the Matopos. We saw some things out there and then head to Mtshabezi Mission and the National AIDS Programme. Forgotten Voices is sponsoring about 614 kids this term for school fees and it was (as it always is) overwhelming.

Since our time is so short, I'd like to briefly introduce you to two people that we've met along the way. So sorry about the pictures. We sadly can't post many as the internet connect is WAY too slow at the moment. This is actually from a friend's blog ... they are working where we just came from. :)

Enjoy these short profiles on some of the voices we are hearing from during our travels.

Shelton: age 8, grade 2
Shelton is the youngest of 4 kids that have been living alone for the past 3 years (16, 13, 10, 8). The father and mother both passed away from AIDS related illnesses. The oldest, aged 16, is now struggling to cope with what has happened. He is generally away for days and quite depressed, leaving the other 3 to fend for themselves. Forgotten Voices is sponsoring school fees and support for these 3 and the church has offered to pay the way for the eldest child to return to school. However, he feels that he can't because of the pressures to provide (even though he goes away and isn't found for days and sometimes weeks). Shelton is in the 2nd grade and enjoys soccer, math, and reading.

Please pray for these 4, as they represent a rising challenge to our church partners. What to do with children without a support system and grieving the loss of their parents. Please pray for the church leaders as they try to offer what they can amidst such trying circumstances.

Horace: age 25, childrens ministry volunteer at Free Methodist Church
He's 25 and very talented. He loves children and would love to be a pastor some day. Since quitting his job because he hadn't been paid in such a long time and he was spending more on fuel than he was receiving from the job, he spends all his time with the church. His only sibling Irene left a few months ago for south africa. While greener pastures are calling and jobs are promising (yet in actuality quite elusive) down in south africa, Horace is choosing to stay to help the church. Not only is he incredibly helpful around the community (paying school fees, visiting the sick, etc), Horace is also funny, an incredible soccer player, and has an amazing smile that I look forward to showing you when I get home.

OK. I gotta go for now. Love to you and all that matter to you. Pray for us as we continue traveling. I'll be able to write tomorrow.

Bye for now.

-Ryan (& Bozzo aka Steve aka Bozo ----like the clown... people love his name here!)

$3 Bucks

Ryan and I spent the morning once again at the Free Methodist Church where we set up Fibian (the pastor) with more money for school fees thanks to your donations. It is pretty astounding when you see it with your own eyes --- meaning only $3 USD sends a child to school for a semester's worth. But it is even more then that when you can see it for yourself because when you are in conversations with these kids you see how much the schooling really helps them and how much they want it and how much it helps the community. $3 dollars. That is ridiculous. What is it, on average $7,000 in the U.S?!?!?!? I don't know? I just thought it was cool to see where the money is going first hand. More soon from Ryan and I. Stephen

17/5/2007

Today we begin new round of funding for Free Methodist Church, Leadership Centre, and drive to rural areas. Pray!

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Father I adore you is now being sung by young men around the Western Suburbs of Bulawayo. Tonight, Ryan preached on Bicycles.

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From the Other Guy

This is Stephen Bozzo, that other guy on the trip.

 

Ryan and I are heading off to speak with some Gordon-Conwell seminary students who are here in town visiting TCZed. We then will be heading to the Free Methodist Church for a town prayer meeting where Ryan will be giving a little sermonette (I don't think I am speaking also?!?!?!?!) -- so I can only write briefly, hopefully in a few days I can elaborate more on everything. Today we started at the Free Methodist Church where we met with Fibian the head pastor (TCZed grad) and we discussed a new project building a pre-school on the newly fenced in FMC property. The interesting thing about this project is that it is going to be done not in your traditional style, however instead with local workers and local materials with the help of another NGO called Technology For the Poor which is run by former Messiah Professor Job Ebenezer. It is such a fascinating idea and it is my understanding that Mr. Ebenezer has been successful so far. The idea looks as if it can work brilliantly here for the pre-school at the FMC. From there we played a little soccer with Horace and Ronald (two of Fibian's main assistants) and we took them to a nice lunch in the city. They were all extremely appreciative and they seemd to be enamored (spell?) with my camera and Ryan's blackberry.

I can't say enough good things about Ryan and Forgotten Voices so I won't say any here (haha), but please know that I will elaborate more. This has been an amazing and eventful and educational trip, I feel blessed, and I am thankful to Ryan and my supporters/donators. This is a beautiful country with beautiful people and they are gracious when we can provide them with some sort of aid. Have a great day.

Stephen Bozzo

Short msgs are because I am using my cellphone and texting. I only have 160 characters for each post. Bozzo will post later.

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Lunch with Horace, Fibion, Ronald (from FMC) & Bozzo at Ascot. We are enjoying sandwiches, salad, Coke and good conversation.

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Denis Pt 2: Master of economics, horses, politics, heavy metal music, safaris, & negotiating with police...a good guy to know.

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Denis randomly takes us to hear the Upper Room practice; band led by Polish Catholic priest who smokes, drinks & has dreads.

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Today: developed our partnership with TCZ by committing funds for Alumni Community Service, Emerging Leader Fund, and AIDS.

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Denis Paul: key contact today. Helped us get money fuel. Pray for him, as he tries to retain employees and help Bulawayo.

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We began discussions today about the creation of an alumni fund & leadership scholarship. There is a need 2 invest in leaders.

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We are here in Bulawayo. Zim. Less than an hour after arriving in town, we are speaking at the Rotary. Praise God for safety.

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Hope & Emelia

Greetings from South Africa (6 hrs ahead from the time in PA)....

80 degrees out, beautiful sky when we landed.sor

Bozzo and i arrived safe and sound. Our plane spent about 2 hrs on the plane (at the gate) in DC, as there was a fire in the baggage area. Not all the bags got on that were supposed to. The area had to be evacuated, so the planes at Dulles had to wait until they were able to return to their jobs. But let me be clear...NO FIRE near our plane. :)

Good flight for both of us. I slept about 12-13 hrs and Bozzo also slept well. We weren't together, so I wasn't sure how long he got in. Overall the toughest thing was how tired we both were. It was good cause we could sleep, but its tough to be really tired and bounce around a lot, waking up to someone running into you with a cart or a woman dropping something on your head by accident. It was AMAZING to see the Lockwoods after a long flight. They are good friends of mine who were in Zimbabwe for 6 years and are supported by WSEFC, the church I attend.  Nothing like old friends. We'll be staying with them until MOnday morning. We depart at 9:05 AM for Zimbabwe.

A couple of reflections. I was VERY frustrated as I was waiting to board our flight in DC. Full of anxiety. I was going away for 2 more weeks and my mind wasn't ready to see so much pain again and I just left my fiancee (again) at the airport. Well... anyway... I started to write in my journal once we took off.  I really want to do that more often this trip. I have a tendency to get too busy and write a couple times a week. So, as I was writing about hope and anxiety, I discovered a couple things. 1) I still struggle with how to process pain because so few of my friends in the USA can relate to the painful side of working with orphans and leaders; 2) I get anxious about my trips when I forget to put my hope in Jesus.

The woman sitting next to me was asleep while I was writing. After I finished writing about desiring to learn more about how to do these things better and the need to rely on Jesus, I slept. When I woke up, Emelia (the woman next to me) was there smiling. We started talking.  It turns out she is the Chief Executive for United Way in South Africa, based in Cape Town. She and I proceeded to have an amazing conversation for an hour on hope, faith, and processing pain. She brought it up and said that she is looking to mentor young professionals working in the field. A Christian to boot. It was amazing and a refreshing gift from God.

Emelia inspired me with her story of 30+ years of service and her reflections that she has just recently learned about putting your hope in God and letting that pour out of you for the benefit of others. She also spoke of the need to do little things well and not get lost in the numbers of international development. 

Be inspired. God sees us. Knows us. and loves us all. That's all for now. I really need to sleep (again). Plane sleep is sleep, but isn't rest. I'll try to text or email from the airport before getting on. This trip, look for stories about people that we find along the way. Bozzo is sound asleep now. He's ahead in the sleep department now, so I have to go catch up. Night all.

Pray for us. And put your hope in God.

-Ryan

--
Note from Ryan Keith
Forgotten Voices International

Office: 717.506.0633
Cell: 717.649.0667
Email: RKeith@ForgottenVoices.org
Web: www.ForgottenVoices.org

FVI: EMPOWERING ORPHANS

The Day is Here

Friends - Today is the day! Stephen Bozzo & I depart later today at 5:20PM EST out of Dulles in Washington, D.C. bound for Johannesburg and then on to Zimbabwe on Monday morning.  We arrive at 10:25 local time Monday and are speaking at Noon at the local Rotary. I told Stephen, "nothing like diving in."

I'll be gone from May 12-24 and Stephen will stay there until he returns on June 4th.

Needless to say, we are excited and anxious (and exhausted) all at the same time.  I'm up working on our new website, which will launch later this month (get excited!!!!) and finalizing some plans for the trip.  Stephen is also up in NYC packing (rookie).

Goals for the trip:

• Start a new project at The Rock - 25 new orphans; discuss a whole host of new projects there
• Begin initial planning with the Free Methodist Church for a preschool in Bulawayo that will generate enough school fees to send all the orphans at the church to school (about 35).
• Starting a Project Management Training Program with the Christian Leadership Resource Centre that will train 800 pastors
• Check in on Mtshabezi AIDS Clinic & Hospital
• Begin discussions with Victor Nakah about ways that FVI can work with seminaries to expand operations
• Above all - I'd like to come out with projects that communities develop, that will work and you all will be excited about funding.
• Stephen will be taking pictures of various people along the way and documenting their stories... getting an idea of what life is like in Africa each day. He's an artist and has a natural gift for it... I'm sure he'll love it!

If all goes well - we could have projects in our pipeline that will send another 1,000 kids to school at least. It could be way more. I'm eager to see what the leaders have come up with in their final stages of planning before we arrive.

All of that in 9 days. It'll be busy. But a couple of things of note:

1. A lot of this is by faith.  Forgotten Voices is at an interesting stage right now.  A lot of people are excited about what we are doing, but we still don't have enough money to cover our pressing needs right now.  God is faithful.  We still have about $5,000 that should be raised while I'm away.  I encourage all of you to think about giving.  I don't want to be a broken record, but I would really appreciate any gift you can offer...especially if you haven't done that before. 
2. This will be Stephen's first time to Africa, which I am VERY excited about. There is nothing like coming your first time... it gets in your blood.
   
3. I'm probably most excited about a standing game of Go Fish with a 2 year old boy I know in Johannesburg. He wins EVERY TIME and this trip will mark the end of his reign.

In all seriousness, we covet your prayers. There is SOOOO much to do in such a short period of time. We'll connect more tomorrow. For now, I gotta finish my stuff and go to sleep! 18 hr flights seem long, but they are dreadfully long if you are sick. And I do NOT want to be sick.

Peace, love and hope for all.
-Ryan

Prayer Requests from Ryan

As we begin the final leg of preparation before departing for Africa on May 12:

Pray for Stephen Bozzo, who is joining me on this trip. It is his first trip to Zimbabwe. He's a videotographer from New York and a friend from Messiah. Pray for safety as we travel to the world's worst economy and rising political tension. Inflation is now at 2100%, making already tense situations unbearable for most people.

Pray for wisdom for me as I will see so many opportunities that I'll have to decline far more than we take on.  We need to raise $7,000 more for projects before I leave on May 12. Pray for God's provision in that and that people who hear of this need will respond.

Given all the political tension, pray for God's hand in connecting us to the right people that we need to meet. Everyone wants to be our friend when the economy is bad, and many won't be helpful. Finally, pray for peace for me and our projects as the AIDS situation is creating about 1,000 new orphans every day.  This is often heartbreaking work to meet with people that you cannot help. It weighs on me daily and seeing it everyday for 2 weeks leaves me open for doubting God. It is hard to see so much that can be done and it is hard not to feel responsible for this inability to help.

Pray for us daily, as this will arguably be the most difficult trip yet given the economic and health situation.

There are many requests and this is long, but I wanted to give you my heart, as I know you'll pray. With everything going on, and all the money left to be raised, I take joy in the fact that God will have to be the provider. I cannot do it. My hope and trust for God's provision grows daily, despite these challenges. Our God is an awesome God and I'm so blessed to be able to serve Him.

Most groups are leaving ZImbabwe and many more are doubting that anything can be done. This is truly a forgotten area of the world right now and these children are forgotten voices. However, God's love is a love of hope. Forgotten Voices is staying and investing in the dreams and hopes of church leaders, who are working to empower orphans in their communities. I'm confident in the vision God has given us as an organization and I pray that people will join us in helping us fulfill that vision of demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ by equipping local churches in southern Africa to meet the physical & spiritual needs of AIDS orphans in their communities.

Thanks for praying, friend! You are loved and prayed for, as well.

--
Note from Ryan Keith
Forgotten Voices International

Office: 717.506.0633
Cell: 717.649.0667
Email: RKeith@ForgottenVoices.org
Web: www.ForgottenVoices.org

FVI: EMPOWERING ORPHANS