Monday, December 30, 2013

Hands Family Recap

Belated Merry Christmas!!!

Now that I've been sidelined with a cold and pink eye managed to sit still for more than five minutes, it is probably about time that I recap my last few months here in America.

Working full time, it can be so easy to become focused on the task at hand and not on the bigger picture. In October the Hands USA Family had our first Advocates Family reunion. I had only met a handful of the people in attendance, and those people for only a very short time. It was amazing to be able to take time to get to know them, foster relationships with each other and hear updates from George about what is going on in the field - with our kids, and our amazing volunteers and staff. There were 24 people, or so, in attendance and it was amazing and re-energizing to spend time in fellowship with each other. There are pockets in the country where multiple Advocates live and can support each other, but there are also regions with only one family or one lone advocate. I am one of those loners. We all keep in contact via email, facebook, texting - and in November we had our first Advocates Skype session! Still, it is lonely work - being a world away from the people we are fighting for and hours away from the people standing by our side fighting the same fight.

It was a blessed weekend. Things kicked off on Friday. As it happened, Lauren, Sara, and I all landed within an hour of each other and we were followed shortly by Brooke and George. So I met Lauren and Sara at the airport first and got a chance to chat with them while we waited for Brooke and George's flight to land. We had lunch and discussed some Hands business. As the newbie of the group I was just there because my flight happened to line up, so I just took it all in. It's amazing to see the hearts of everyone and how their lives have really been transformed by the work we do. Not to much later Craig, whom I had met briefly is South Africa, picked us up from O'Hare and drove us to Kenosha. Once we were dropped off at Ruth and Andy's house, where we would be for the weekend, Ruth had already set up everything for the weekend. Her family was going to the high school football game, so Brooke, Sara and I hung out at the house prepping for the sessions the next day and eating food brought to us by people we had never met! Chloe, another Advocate, was unable to attend the weekend because she was sick but she is the person to  know! She had so many people bringing us food to eat the next day, it was unbelievable - what a blessing!

That Saturday was amazing. Jed and his parents had arrived to Ruth and Andy's late the night before, so they were there for breakfast. After that, people just kept coming. Some I knew via Facebook and email, while others were completely new to me. After grabbing a quick breakfast with everyone, our morning began as they do in Africa - praying together. Right away we got to the heart of our weekend and prayed about the injustice that faces our children. Right away the tears began as God broke our hearts for these children all over again. Once the prayer was finished and the criers (myself included!) had dried our eyes, we got into our first session. It was an easy one: introducing ourselves to the group! Lauren had made this really cool prezi presentation to highlight where we are from across the United States. We had been asked to submit photos prior to the weekend and when your photo popped up on the map it was your turn to tell your story. Once we knew each other a little better, we turned it over to George. Anytime George speaks its truly amazing how he speaks the heart of God. The Advocates all have different levels of familiarity with Hands; some of our Advocates were in the first group of volunteers SEVEN years ago and a lot has changed in those seven years! George gave an overview of the current country profiles for the eight countries we serve in, and highlighted our key staff members from each country. This was, for lack of a better world, brutal.

When you tell someone that you have been to Africa with a non-profit organization in orphan care they almost always respond with a comment about what an amazing experience it must have been and what kindof sacrifices you must have made. Once you meet the people working with us on the ground, our reaction couldn't be more different. It is an amazing, blessing experience, but the sacrifices we make are so trivial in comparison to the locals. As George updated us about what is going on in the field in each of our countries, he highlighted the personal battles our staff are faced with. Hands at Work wants to form relationships first, and inspire change second. We must know in our hearts our workers, our volunteers and our children - by name. We must know their stories, their heartbreak, and their dreams. We give them a voice. When you go to the field with our workers, they are such strong pillars on the outside. It is easy to forget that they too were once broken children. They try so hard to be strong for their communities that they don't always show their vulnerable side. George has the distinct privilege of knowing them, and knowing them so well that he knows their darkest secrets. He told us stories of men being mocked in the communities they grew up in, who had to fight to be taken seriously. He told us stories of workers who were repeatedly interrogated and beaten by the police because they do not trust our work. He told us stories of workers who had their cars confiscated. He told the story of my dear friend, whom I met in my last week in South Africa, who was teaching 200 children by himself when Hands found him and offered to help. His school children would walk for up to two hours just for the chance to sit in a crowded room where by the grace of God he managed to teach 13 different classes. Just unimaginable, heartbreaking sacrifices.  Sacrifices made by amazing, amazing workers who willingly take these sacrifices because anyone of them would put their lives on the line before allowing any of the international volunteers to be put into a compromising position. To say that we make sacrifices is a joke. It is a cruel disservice to the heart of these dedicated workers. Needless to say, as George spoke there were lots of tears. And we prayed again, and there were more tears. I cannot even find words to do justice to describing the way my heart breaks when I think about it.

This was our first Hands US Advocate event, so after a quick break, we broke into groups to discuss the role of Advocates and how to be a better Advocate. Then Brooke highlighted some of the materials we have at our disposal to spread the vision of Hands to our churches and our communities. We wrapped up with Sara, from Queens, NY,  sharing her story and how Hands has impacted her life. [I had not met Sara prior to the Hands Advocate weekend, but she went to South Africa in 2011 and also served in Kitwe, Zambia where I spent four weeks so that was a cool connection!] There were a few things that had been planned that didn't happen, but as in Africa, we build the plane while we fly... We certainly made the most of our time together, but we did take a quick time out to take some group photos!

Hands strives to continually "build the wall" referencing Nehemiah 2, where Nehemiah inspects the wall around Jerusalem. We want to build walls of protection around each other and around our children, so at this event we each got our own bricks to symbolize the bricks we want and need to keep our walls strong.

After our mini photo session, those of us who could stay around went out to dinner with each other to spend more time just bettering our relationships with each other. That night Sara and I caught up with Ruth and Andy and relaxed while watching some classic TV shows before bed.

Sunday morning we were up and on our way to Racine to worship at Grace, Craig and Brenda's church, where George was speaking. Their church is much larger than my home church, and going to a different church and seeing how they worship is always a great experience! After spending some time at their Hands table, where they were offering information and also raising support for our kids, we were off. We grabbed lunch at a sub shop and then loaded up for the airport. Well, we were driving to the Brat Stop to catch the shuttle to the airport but even though we were early the shuttle was still too early for us! So we raced off to Chicago and got to the airport in time. My flight was first, so after saying our goodbyes and thanks to Ruth and Wanda, Sara and Michelle saw me off. Security wasn't too bad, although I couldn't fit my brick into my bag so I got a few strange looks walking in O'Hare on my way to the gate.

It was an unforgettably, immensely wonderful and blessed weekend! I am so thankful for all of the Hands Family I have had the chance to meet from all over the globe: We are willing, God is faithful and I am so excited to see where He leads us next!