A hard transition

Muli bwanji muzangas! (How are you my friends?)

It has been another hard couple of weeks, but the Lord is teaching me so much. I have had to work backwards and have been humbled and emboldened (is that a word?)in the process. It is still a rough road, but the Lord is showing his face through it.

The boys who have currently been staying at the church and eating there have also kept me anxious all week. We had to get information from these boys and bring it to social welfare to find out the best situation for them, especially if they had family. After a wild goose chase trying to figure everything out, we realized they had been in a program that they ran away from that was very good at addressing their needs. Apparently the caretaker was not very good and older boys were beating them. The program was changed and moved to another house where the boys are now able to go to and be safe. We are praying this is true.

In the midst of all this, we found that one of the boys is HIV+. This was very hard to hear because this boy is only 17 years old. He has already been through so much in his life with his parents dying and not being wanted by his auntie. One of the boys is very scared to go back to this program even though it has changed, which hurts me to see as well, as I want the best for them. The third boy has a family, but his stepfather abuses him, so I am praying that he is not put back in that situation, but that the family is able to receive counseling and can show this boy love. It is so hard to know whether this is the right thing for them, but we know this is more than we can offer, which is much better for them. We will still keep our relationships with them as they will come to our church and older boys from the church will spend time with them. We will also be sponsoring their school fees and any other fees that need to be paid for.

PLEASE pray for these boys as they have been so hurt throughout their lifetime from their families dying, to being abused and/or chased away, to contracting HIV. I feel so helpless in this situation because I cannot see the tangible things that I can do, although I know how important it will be to keep my relationship with them and speak truth into their lives about the love of our Lord. Unfortunately, these situations are far too common in Africa and there are very few resources. This breaks my heart.

In the midst of all this, I have also been working out my schedule as to what types of things I can be doing here. The main thing that I have come to do is set up a sponsorship program starting with orphans from the school here which I will start as soon as school starts again. I will also be volunteering at a deaf school which is so exciting since I sign and they use American sign language. Through this experience I will be observing how sign language is taught so that I can teach a girl in a rural village in Zimbabwe who has no one to teach her. I will also be visiting orphanages regularly to make relationships with the children as well as identify children who would benefit from sponsorship. Along with these things, I will most likely start a girls bible study for the young women in the church as there are very few and I want to encourage them to become leaders. There are many other tasks I will be doing along with these, but these are where I will be starting. I am very thankful to finally figure out where I can be used here and offer my service.

I appreciate your prayers for these things and also your financial contribution. If you would like to donate to these causes either monthly or as a one time gift, you can do so at any time at www.rockofafrica.org or send a check to
ROCK of Africa Mission
PO Box 5000
Costa Mesa, CA 92628.
indicating on the memo line it is for Erin Hartzell. Thank you so much! I also really appreciate all the encouragement I have been receiving. It is so crucial as I am in a very tough environment alongside trying to learn a new culture and language. Love you all!
Erin