My sister, Rachel, just got back from a mission trip to Africa. You can read about it here or here. Rachel is the one in this picture wearing a white shirt. She writes...

Hi Friends!

I just wanted you all to know that we are safe and sound in the USA. We returned on Saturday. The trip was amazing, and I hope that I have time to spend telling stories with you soon.

I'll send the link to our pictures when we post them on the web. I attached one picture of the kids at Boepelong Community School. It is the school that Charity and Faith Church (our partner church) has on the church property. Although the kids have uniforms and backpacks ... the school was in terrible shape and we worked hard at patching concrete floors, painting walls, hanging posters and for the first time ever, the school received curriculum while we were there. Most parents have sacrificed something big to afford the tuition to send their kids to school. Many of the parents that we met had given up electricity to pay tuition, they are the few that understand that education is the tipping point of poverty.

By all accounts and measures, the trip was a total success. Thank you for supporting us as we traveled to the other side of the world. Andrew and I definitely received more blessings and joy from the beautiful people of South Africa than we gave. It was truly an inspiring and sobering experience.

This trip was major news for the country of South Africa. Here are two of their local stories (links below)[those above- DS] ... my favorite is the mistake saying we each raised $35,000 US dollars to come ... to people with so little, $3,500 might as well have been a million dollars.

During the trip I was featured on the SABC nightly news ... think "World News Tonight". It is their national evening news. The whole week people recognized me from the broadcast. This was a major national event to the country.

Can't wait to share more with you!

Rachel